Settling Into Her New Life

Mara is settling into her new life and seems to be realizing it won’t be taken away from her. Often there is a ‘too good to be true’ mentality with new elephant arrivals, which is understandable. It manifests itself in numerous ways, depending upon the individual, but some elephants need a few days to begin to believe that it is all real and all theirs- forever. Over the top excitement is very endearing, but this act of settling down is much healthier for everyone involved.

Although Mara and Rana are still incredibly smitten with each other, now Mara is becoming comfortable with walking away from Rana to graze, drink, or inspect something that catches her eye. Mind you, they’re never much more than 30 yards apart, but she doesn’t need to be side by side continually. In the morning, if Mara and Rana are back at the barn, we separate them for breakfast and close a gate between them to ensure everyone gets their diet and supplements. Initially, this caused Mara to return to the gate and check on her friend, but it has become somewhat uneventful now that Mara understands it is only for a short time. This grounding brings a serenity that will allow Mara to embrace more of what sanctuary offers and deepen her relationships with the other girls in a more meaningful way.

We know everyone loves seeing all of the exciting steps of Mara’s arrival and progress since coming home to Elephant Sanctuary Brazil, and we love sharing it. But that will slow down as things become more ‘normal’ for her here, which is a good thing- at least for Mara. 😉 As she settles in and becomes more confident in her relationships and sanctuary life, the day will become somewhat repetitive. Eat, nap, touch friends, squeak, eat, nap, walk, repeat. This is the mundane life that we wish for all elephants. It’s beautiful in its simplicity. Live feeds will become impossible with the girls wandering into the habitat, out of wi-fi range. We will continue to do at least daily posts so that it won’t be full-on withdrawal for anyone, and you’ll still know how Mara and all of the other lovely ladies are doing. The pace will just slow as she becomes part of the sanctuary. There will still be plenty of firsts and special moments to share; we don’t want people to be concerned when you begin to hear less.

Right now Maia, Mara, and Rana are all sharing the same space. It has been a relatively quiet morning although there is always some squeaks, deep rumbles, and an occasional trumpet with the lovely Miss Mara with us. ❤️

photo- Mara on the left, Rana on the right

May 20, 2020

Comments(11)

REPLY
Rosie P says
May 20, 2020 at 3:21 pm
…………and, hopefully, Scott and Kat will have a little more time to rest….maybe!!! Love, love ,love the videos and updates but I will also be just as happy when the excitement settles and the girls settle in to life with their new sister……all ticking over nicely. I appreciate every blog and video and enjoy learning more and more each day about these wonderful creatures and when they relax into a more mundane life then that’s more than fine by me.
Love you all!XXXXX
REPLY
Jean Tryon says
May 20, 2020 at 3:29 pm
Wonderful that Mara has assimilated quickly into Sanctuary life. Now, what about Lady? Is she still off doing her own thing? Do you think she is content to be a loner, or does she at least from afar show the mildest of interest in what the other 3 are doing? Coming back for foot treatments, or must she be coaxed?
Question: is it Mara or Rana that swings her left front leg out when walking? [sorry if this has been asked and answered]
- REPLY
  EleComposer says
  May 20, 2020 at 5:50 pm
  Lady is doing what she chooses to do at this time which is part of the autonomy of sanctuary. She is off in Yard 4, but a fresh pile of dung lets us know that she did come close to the other girls in the middle of the night the other night and then left on her own, as again is her choice.
  Lady has actually looked quite radiant since the day that Mara arrived. Sometimes not being alone doesn’t mean that you have somebody standing by your side, it just means that you don’t feel alone, that you know there are others of your own kind that you can hear the rumbles that travel through the ground and absorb them in your feet and know that there is someone else there just like you.
  Lady seems great. Both Scott and myself have gone out to see her and agree that she looks amazing. Not only is she moving well, but her face looks so good right now. Again, there’s no way that she doesn’t know that Mara is at the sanctuary. Our employees can hear Mara with the generator running and welding the other day way up the hill. Mara can be heard up at the sanctuary house. So Lady knows Mara is there. She knows there is a different elephant. Lady is just okay where she is. Again, she may be very happy that there is a new elephant at the sanctuary. It may be part of why she is so smiley and so glowy. But it doesn’t necessarily mean that she has to touch her and be her best friend. Everybody expresses joy in different ways. So for right now she is out and about because she wants to be.
  As far as treatments, we don’t have to coax her back – she has the training wall close by and we can do a shortened version of her treatments that don’t include the foot soaks, but as we had said we wanted to give her a little bit of a break but with being able to trim her pads and trim back her nails all of the areas we were so concerned with when doing foot soaks. With all that overgrowth it was the only way to get any remote penetration, but now with that exposed it’s much easier to treat the same areas with just a cleaning, a scrubbing and a spraying. That doesn’t mean that when she comes back we won’t do foot soaks, of course we will. But for right now everybody is just getting a chance to chill out a little bit, sort themselves out, see what they want to do. The plan is that we are going to build a stall off of Yard 4 so that we can do foot soaks out there. It will be a treatment chute, it doesn’t necessarily have to be just for foot soaks. We’re going to do a double chute and this way anyone who needs any sort of medical treatment doesn’t have to come all the way back to the barn even if it is something as involved as foot soaks.
  So for right now, she’s great. She’s going in the pond on a regular basis which helps soften her feet, we have the training wall so we can use all of the sprays that we have for her and all of the different treatments. She seems really really happy. Mara is getting comfortable with Maia, so there’s no push in introducing another elephant, but if Lady comes back we will absolutely let her into Yard 3, and we’ll let her see the other two and see what she thinks. Again, it’s all up to her. We’re not going to force her to make a new friend because it seems to be the story that people want to hear or the vision they have for a happy elephant. Yes, they are a herd animal. And yes, they like to be around other elephants but just like Maia has a choice to stay with Rana and Mara – she doesn’t want to. She walks away when she wants to be alone – she comes back when she wants companionship. Sometimes she stays side-by-side for ½ hour and then she’s gone for the whole day. Other times she stands next to them for 2 minutes and stays within 200 yards for the rest of the day. It is all about that choice and then deciding what sort of relationships they want, with whom, and when, and how. It’s all part of sanctuary.
  It’s Rana that swings her leg.
REPLY
Sheila says
May 20, 2020 at 4:27 pm
Well. Dear mara is getting more relaxed now that she has a little herd and with a lovely attentive ?rana who certainly craved a sister! Happy ?maia is hanging out too with rana and mara?❤️ so now is it possible for. Lil fearful lady to meet mara this will be the ultimate event‼️?
- REPLY
  EleComposer says
  May 20, 2020 at 5:51 pm
  Lady is doing what she chooses to do at this time which is part of the autonomy of sanctuary. She is off in Yard 4, but a fresh pile of dung lets us know that she did come close to the other girls in the middle of the night the other night and then left on her own, as again is her choice.
  Lady has actually looked quite radiant since the day that Mara arrived. Sometimes not being alone doesn’t mean that you have somebody standing by your side, it just means that you don’t feel alone, that you know there are others of your own kind that you can hear the rumbles that travel through the ground and absorb them in your feet and know that there is someone else there just like you.
  Lady seems great. Both Scott and myself have gone out to see her and agree that she looks amazing. Not only is she moving well, but her face looks so good right now. Again, there’s no way that she doesn’t know that Mara is at the sanctuary. Our employees can hear Mara with the generator running and welding the other day way up the hill. Mara can be heard up at the sanctuary house. So Lady knows Mara is there. She knows there is a different elephant. Lady is just okay where she is. Again, she may be very happy that there is a new elephant at the sanctuary. It may be part of why she is so smiley and so glowy. But it doesn’t necessarily mean that she has to touch her and be her best friend. Everybody expresses joy in different ways. So for right now she is out and about because she wants to be.
  She’s going in the pond on a regular basis which helps soften her feet, we have the training wall so we can use all of the sprays that we have for her and all of the different treatments. She seems really really happy. Mara is getting comfortable with Maia, so there’s no push in introducing another elephant, but if Lady comes back we will absolutely let her into Yard 3, and we’ll let her see the other two and see what she thinks. Again, it’s all up to her.
  We’re not going to force her to make a new friend because it seems to be the story that people want to hear or the vision they have for a happy elephant. Yes, they are a herd animal. And yes, they like to be around other elephants but just like Maia has a choice to stay with Rana and Mara – she doesn’t want to. She walks away when she wants to be alone – she comes back when she wants companionship. Sometimes she stays side-by-side for ½ hour and then she’s gone for the whole day. Other times she stands next to them for 2 minutes and stays within 200 yards for the rest of the day. It is all about that choice and then deciding what sort of relationships they want, with whom, and when, and how. It’s all part of sanctuary.
  - Bertica Valdes Suarez says
    May 21, 2020 at 12:21 am
    Thank you! Ramba, and Lady, and now Mara, have been teachers of the patience of their species. You guys are like them. Smart and patient. I don’t know if you were already like that or if hanging around elephants improved you. The foot care sounds like a ton of work, and that you guys have the knowledge to do it!! How you are brilliant sensitive to make the footcare mobile, closer to where they are. So impressed. Now I am thinking, let the sanctuary settle down too with the girls settling in–let it do its original purpose.
REPLY
Wim Diepeveen says
May 20, 2020 at 4:54 pm
They look lovely and super rebalanced. So smart they really are one with nature. Their new life is worth sharing from any distance.
Be safe and protected girls, enjoy your newly found freedom. ????
REPLY
Dianna says
May 20, 2020 at 5:32 pm
So glad she has settled in so fast. With any luck at all maybe the 2 African elephants she was with will also be able to join her here some day and share space with Kenya, so they too can know the life of Sanctuary. You guys are the absolute best, you guys are Angels for the girls.
REPLY
Shirley Taylor says
May 20, 2020 at 5:45 pm
Just happy to know they are all ok and keeping happy. I like many other lovers of this group understand that the girls will settle down and life will be a happy freedom thanks to you Scott Kat and your brilliant caring team. Thanks for sharing and keeping us all happy with updates. It’s also nice to see pics of you other residents you should make a CD of the birds singing and the girls chatter and squeaks I would definitely buy it. Thank you once again. X
REPLY
Julia Mercedes Eden says
May 21, 2020 at 7:53 am
Watched the Timeline interview with Scott featuring Rana, Maia and Mara too – naturally ! It was SUCH a hugely positive advocacy for elephants ? to be FREE IN AN ELEPHANT SANCTUARY ? A great ‘education’ for the uninformed who go to zoos or circuses and see elephants ? in captivity not having any clue just how massively damaging and abusive to them it is. Bravo ? Mr and Mrs Blais for your Global Sanctuary Elephants ? Brazil – it’s a veritable heart ? and soul stopper in support and with huge love ? for elephants ????❤️?
REPLY
Sherry says
May 21, 2020 at 7:02 pm
They will live even longer now; with care takers and friends who love them !!!

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