Blog

Making Friends At An Easy Pace

Over the past few months, and prior to the arrival of Pocha and Guillermina, Maia has become closer to the group of three: Bambi, Mara, and Rana. This created a nice, welcoming space for Pocha and Guille to enter, because it let new friendships start to develop without internal relationship tensions or growing pains that might interfere. In the beginning, Guille and Pocha were more curious about the other elephants than they were interested in forming friendships. Right now, that might be changing, but there are no expectations from the other elephants as to what those relationships might become. The two new ladies are still slightly hesitant and only beginning to engage more with the others. 

When all six ladies share space together, the combinations of elephants who group together change throughout the day. Sometimes Maia will spend time with Pocha and Guillermina, but later Rana will join in, and so on. Bambi seems to be the most forward and vocal about the idea of creating friendships, but she doesn’t spend as much quiet time with the two new girls as Maia does. 

However, quiet time might not always be what the girls are interested in these days. When Bambi rumbles, Guille has begun to vocalize back in return. Sometimes, when Pocha and Guillermina start to make their noises, Bambi gets really excited and rumbles back. Though we can’t say what is to come, there is a definite curiosity among the group and interactions have mostly been subtle. It’s wonderful to see that all six appear to be comfortable spending time in close proximity to one another.  

In this video, all six girls are in Yard 4, with Guillermina in the mud wallow and Pocha dusting. Mara is on the far right, Maia and Bambi are grazing – with Bambi far out – and Rana is on the far left.

Comments(17)

  1. REPLY
    Kayle says

    Your insight allows me to mentally picture myself as there with the ladies. I cannot thank you enough for the time you take to write these amazing descriptions.

    • REPLY
      Sara says

      What a lovely thing to say. Thank you so much!

  2. REPLY
    Pam says

    What a peaceful day at Sanctuary, and how great it is to see this group so relaxed in each others’ company! I feel such appreciation and admiration for all the hours of hard work that go into making this reality possible, I hope the staff all feel greatly rewarded on days like this. Much gratitude for all that you do!

  3. REPLY
    Sue says

    What an amazingly beautiful sight to see. The resilience of these amazing giants continues to amaze me. Thank you for all you do! ❤️🐘❤️

  4. REPLY
    Kenneth B. Newman says

    If only Lady would bring herself to join them……maybe someday?????

    Meantime, any news when Tamy and the African elephants might start arriving? By the end of the year, or sometime in 2023?

    • REPLY
      Sara says

      Lady will do what she feels comfortable doing. Her ability to make her own decisions is the most important thing. We don’t have timelines for new elephants arriving. We are currently working to get the newest elephants acclimated and their health must be given great attention. Also, because of permit issues and other bureaucratic parts of the process, we can’t responsibly give a date range.

  5. REPLY
    Charlotte Hansen says

    This is what my dream was for them, a peaceful and happy life with new friends, but I thought I was being overly optimistic!!

    • REPLY
      Sara says

      Things are slow and steady and there may still be bumps along the way. But we are thrilled to see how Pocha and Guillermina are progressing and how willing the others have been to accept them.

  6. REPLY
    Wim says

    The fellowship of surprising moments.
    May they share many magical encounters.

  7. REPLY
    Diana Weyland says

    And Lady, where is she?

    • REPLY
      Sara says

      Lady is doing her thing in Yard 5, her favorite spot.

  8. REPLY
    Lori Hoover says

    The simple act of all 6 of these girls just hanging out, and just being, may be the sweetest thing I’ve seen today. Thank you for sharing this with us.

  9. REPLY
    John says

    The mud wallow looks more like a bathtub today. 😉 Great to see all the ladies hanging out together. It still amazes met how much the new girls have integrated in such a short time.

  10. REPLY
    Carmen Dalziel says

    Pocha and Guille enjoying themselves in the ‘same room’ with 4 other ele’s already. I LOVE TO SEE THIS!

    I meant to ask the other day: You said Guille is a fast ele, but Bambi has always been the puppy-like sprinter since her life started here. so I’m curious who is the faster runner now. Bambi still? or Guille?

    • REPLY
      Sara says

      Guillermina now seems to be the fastest!

  11. REPLY
    Beji says

    Gotta love the swishy tails….

  12. REPLY
    Sherry says

    They are learning about one another and having fun!

Post a comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.