Blog

All of the animals at Elephant Sanctuary Brazil become part of our hearts and our lives–and we know they do the same with yours. By now, our sanctuary family understands the importance of space to elephant healing; it’s something we’ve written about extensively, and also something you’ve been witness to yourselves. We’ve talked about the physical benefits and we’ve explained that extensive room is essential to improved mental and emotional healing, and all of the girls have become stronger in those ways since coming to sanctuary. 

Guida was one of the first two elephants at the sanctuary, arriving with Maia after they were confiscated from a circus. She soon began to sense that she was safe here, that much was becoming evident. Now that she had room to walk away from the once-dominant Maia, she seemed to become more comfortable in her role in their relationship, because she knew she could be alone if she wanted–and sometimes she did. That likely played a role in how their friendship developed, eventually becoming a true, soulmate partnership.

The legal ruling that awarded us custody of the two elephants had to be put into place almost immediately, and we had only finished the first of the initial three yards in the Female Asian Habitat. Even so, it was more space than they’d had since they were children, and they took to sanctuary life immediately. As we expanded and opened up the other yards to them, Guida always explored until she was familiar with every inch of the habitat. She constantly looked across the fences and into the distance, maybe imagining that she could have access to even more greenery, streams, and acre-upon-acre of space. She had been in self-protection mode for so long that she may have never dared to consider that “more” was an option, until now. 

Of course, Guida never seemed ungrateful for the land she had access to. She was quick to express joy and made the most of every inch of land around her. But she also seemed to have hope that she could move beyond what she knew; she often appeared to want a challenge, whether that meant climbing a hill or navigating the trees to find the birds singing. Once Yards 4 and 5 became available, Guida shifted comfortably into those spaces. You could draw a direct line from having wide expanses to dream in, to the transformation you saw in her physical and mental health. 

That’s our hope for all of the elephants here–and the ones to come. With your help, our plan is to expand the Female Asian Habitat by approximately 200 acres. The girls deserve the space, as they continue their healing journeys. Our year-end goal is a total of $300,000 and, after GivingTuesday, we’ve hit the halfway mark! With a $75,000 match in place,  every dollar you give now through December 31 will be doubled! When you are planning your year-end giving, please consider Global Sanctuary for Elephants and help us provide them more room to roam. 

P.S.: The Kerulos Center for Nonviolence is producing a special Face to Face with Elephants series of their Living One podcast. It focuses on all things special about elephants and their psychological journeys. Scott and Kat participated in the project and their episode, which includes discussion of sanctuary principles and trauma-informed responses, also centers firmly on the benefits of space. We invite you to watch and listen today.