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Since you only got to see her feet this morning, here is Lady’s lovely face.

This afternoon, when Lady came into the barn for treatment, Ramba was close so we let her come in the other stall. The gate was closed between the two stalls. As Ramba walked into her stall, Lady got a little nervous and spun around to put her hind end towards Ramba, which is a common submissive behavior. Quite honestly, Ramba wasn’t really paying any attention to her and was busy putting a fresh coating of dirt on herself. After a couple of minutes, Lady then spun back around to see what Ramba was doing- which was still dusting.

Ramba never walked over to try to touch her and Lady never walked up to the dividing gate. Lady is watchful but curious and as soon as they take a step or two away, she moves closer to them, smelling in their direction. She’s interested but doesn’t trust fully just yet. I’ll try to find a video of her walking up to the barn when Ramba was getting her bath. Lady gets very close and just when she is almost close enough to reach out and touch her, decides she’s done.

People often try to hypothesize why she’s so unsure, and the reality is we’ll never know. We don’t know when the last time she saw an elephant was, but we’ve had elephants that have been alone for 4 or 5 decades that have opened up to other elephants right away. She may have been put in situations that led to conflict during her circus days or it could just be a part of her general insecurity. No matter what the reason, she’ll have the time she needs to work through it.

December 5, 2019

READ MORE ON THEIR PAGES:

• Ramba’s Page →
• Lady’s Rescue Page →