Sanctuary
Guida

In Memory of Guida

Rescued October 11, 2016
Died June 25, 2019 at Elephant Sanctuary Brazil
Necropsy determination- probable death from stroke
Approximately 44 years old.  Ex-circus elephant.

Guida was a punk and a joy, and her recovery at ESB absolutely blew us away. When we first met Guida, we were concerned about her future at the sanctuary. She had become so disconnected, so lost in a world of stereotypical swaying, that we were unsure of what it would take to bring her out. We got a real introduction to Guida’s nature when, within her first 24-hours at sanctuary, she decided to give Maia (who she’d never gotten along with) a second chance and embraced everything sanctuary had to offer. While we worried about how frail she was, she immediately showed us she was stronger than we could have ever imagined.  And she blessed us by allowing us to take part in what a phenomenal being she was.

It was hard to imagine a chink in her armor, as she had always been so full of life. But one afternoon, we found her mentally not present and seemingly unable to have her brain and her body communicate to take a step forward. She simply couldn’t lift her one foot to cross over the other.  After over an hour, we were able to help her step out of the trail by widening the path a tiny bit with sticks and verbal encouragement, but she still seemed not to be registering the world around her.

She then stood motionless in a stream that was only a couple of inches deep and a couple of feet wide. Her body was clearly exhausted; her legs would slightly buckle from time to time. We used the backhoe with a strap to help take the two steps out when we saw she wasn’t going to leave on her own. During that process, she would move one of her feet and then lean on a dirt mound to rest for a bit, then move another foot. When she did finally step out, she immediately laid down. Due to her mental status, we placed an IV,  started her on several meds, and pulled blood with the hope we could find some indication of what was wrong while she allowed her body to rest and recover so she could rise on her own. But, after some time, her breaths became more infrequent, and the silences extended until everything simply stopped. Just like that, Guida was gone from this world, and it immediately felt all the more empty for it.

The reality of losing Guida is hard, and it took some time to process. We knew that, no matter how deeply we were mourning, the loss was much more significant for the elephants. Maia came to the sanctuary as an angry girl, an identity that is far behind her. The greatest reason for that change was Guida. Guida allowed herself to be vulnerable to an elephant who had repeatedly hurt her in the past, to be her friend and help gently guide her to deal with her emotions and allow her inner beauty to find its way out. Maia is who she is, in part because Guida chose to make Maia’s recovery as much of a priority as her own. Maia lost a piece of her heart, and we couldn’t help but weep for her.

We would like to say thank you to all of you who helped give Guida her sanctuary glow and allow her nurturing spirit to shine through for all of us to see. Thank you for bringing her to life.

Maia and Guida

Maia and Guida

The bond between friends cannot be broken by chance; no interval of time or space can destroy it. Not even death itself can part true friends. —John Cassian

Maia and Guida

Tributes to Guida

Please leave your thoughts, wishes, emotions or whatever pours into this Memorial Page for our beloved Guida.