Blog

Six years ago today, Mara and her dedicated team of caregivers traveled from Argentina to Brazil in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic. At a time when many people around the world were looking for bright spots, Mara’s journey brought us all hope amid uncertainty. She was enthusiastic about her new home and curious about other elephants; since being separated from Pupy and Kuky at the ecoparque years prior, she’d been alone and couldn’t be faulted if she showed a degree of distrust.

As a way to celebrate all that the elephants at sanctuary have conquered, for their re-birthdays, we want to literally look at how far they’ve come since those first days. So today, we’re highlighting Mara’s relationship with Rana, looking at how Mara has evolved and how, despite many challenges, the two elephants have shown a resilient love for each other. 

Rana was interested in Mara from Mara’s second day at sanctuary. She vocalized a lot and showed excitement at the idea of this new friend, but Mara initially didn’t get close enough for them to touch. After those first interactions, both elephants seemed to relax, so when we gave them the opportunity to meet across a fence line, both appeared to be in a good emotional place to make a connection. 

You can see that Mara approached Rana in a somewhat submissive way, by presenting her bottom first. Rana reached out and sniffed Mara, finally touching her gently on the tail. A squeaky Mara got braver and reached toward Rana with her trunk–which resulted in deep rumbles from Rana. Eventually, Mara patted Rana’s legs up and down, vocalizing more and more intensely. Some additional sniffing resulted in many excited noises from the two elephants. For the first time, we saw Mara lift her foot toward Rana, seemingly as an affectionate gesture–something she still does on occasion. It was an incredibly positive interaction and seemed to unfold naturally, though it certainly took bravery from both parties. 

Relationships haven’t always come naturally to Mara, so when she demonstrates how strong her bond with Rana has become, she’s also showing herself that opening up has benefits. As these “grandmas” spend their senior years together, their bond has only strengthened. They have a quiet and relaxed vibe, which we hope will continue for many years to come.