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Sometimes it’s good to give the elephants a change of scenery and new things to do in their days – which can mean offering them new spaces to explore. That is the benefit of having such a large habitat; each girl can visit new spots and favorite old places. 

One recent morning when Lady was in Yard 4, the other elephants were given access to the yards near the barn. We’ve mentioned how much they seem to enjoy the mud wallow there, so all were grazing and getting very dirty. Just prior to the elephants’ arrival, caregivers spread out some mangoes throughout one of the yards. 

Later, the girls went into Yard 5 for dinner, all except for Rana. She was still lingering near the barn. The caregivers tried to call her and get her to join the others, but noticed that she was not in a hurry because she was walking throughout the yard, collecting mangoes. The rest of the girls had left quite a number of them and Rana didn’t want to miss out on finding hidden treasures. After she was finished, she went back to the mud wallow to cool off and have a messy good time. She was definitely taking her time heading to dinner. As we often say, that’s the beauty of autonomy at sanctuary. Rana felt comfortable enough to enjoy her afternoon doing exactly what she wanted to do, which was a perfect choice for her at that moment.

P.S.: Today’s podcast addresses a question that was posed many times: Why did it take so long to get Ramba to sanctuary. Follow along with Ramba’s story on our website or your favorite podcast platform.