rehab and release program Archives - Global Sanctuary for Elephants

Sunday Smile: Paulo Guacamole’s Release

Sara — Sun, 06 Sep 2026 18:00:53 +0000

You may remember the story of Paulo Guacamole, the wild Orange-winged Amazon Parrot who was surrendered by someone who was keeping him as a pet for a more appropriate life in the forest. Because the bird had been inside for a long time, he understandably had trouble flying when he first arrived into our rehabilitation program. But, after adjusting his diet, distancing him from humans, healthy feathers filling in, and time in one of the larger sanctuary flight cages, we saw on the observation cameras that he was indeed flying and for longer distances over time. He was also vocalizing with the other parrots of his species who flew by, and he seemed strong and ready to go. So, for this week’s Sunday Smile, we’re going to share a longer story than usual! Parrots are diurnal and less active at night, so one morning we made a plan to send him off early, ensuring he’d have a whole day to get adjusted to his new surroundings, and for us to monitor him. We looked for areas where his species of parrots often congregate for a spot to release Guacamole back into the wild. We placed food on a tall platform in the trees and a little bit of fruit on some nearby branches (in case he wasn’t fully ready to find food on his own), and then opened up the crate. He didn’t take off immediately, but he walked out quickly, looking fairly relaxed. Since he didn’t take flight right away, we stayed at a distance and observed for a while. After a few minutes of quiet, Guacamole continued to relax in the same area, so we thought it would be best to leave him to get acclimated to the world outside the rehabilitation area. After a few hours, we looked in on him and saw that he was still in the same area, but high up in the trees and vocalizing, presumably calling the flock that would interact with him before his release. After a brief few minutes, he took off from the tree and began flying freely–high and straight and long. We’ve continued to leave fresh food for him high in the trees, but it hasn’t been touched–so signs point toward Guacamole having found a welcoming new space. We have had a couple of animals return, even years after release, when injured, but we haven’t seen Guacamole since the afternoon of his release; if he ever needs us again, he knows where to find us.

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The Return of Michelangelo

Sara — Sun, 11 Jan 2026 19:00:57 +0000

At Elephant Sanctuary Brazil, we’ve worked with multiple tortoises as part of our rehabilitation and release program. This Sunday, we’re smiling about a visit from one of them, the charming Michelangelo. We tend to see our “graduate” tortoises a couple of times a year–or maybe not at all. (You might remember Mauricio, another friendly little guy who we saw a good bit of a couple of years ago.) Little Michelangelo was one of the friendliest, but he doesn’t come around seeking attention, only snacks. We always oblige and he goes on his way. P.S.: If you enjoy crunchy noises, we invite you to watch to the end of the video for some satisfying tiny chomps.

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Sassy’s Return and Ongoing Care

Sara — Tue, 21 Oct 2025 18:00:23 +0000

For a couple days in a row, the sanctuary staff saw a tapir on the property who was limping, but she ran every time someone tried to get close enough to take a video. There are estimated to be at least 20 wild tapirs who live on the property and a few have been part of our rehabilitation and release program. Eventually, we found former resident Sassy lying in the pond in Yard 5, which was in the process of being cleaned, so the water wasn’t very deep. Sassy was released over 6 years ago, but returned a couple of years after with wounds that suggested she was attacked by a pack of dogs. After that, she would bring her babies through the office yard, mostly when the mango trees were dropping fruit, although always at night when all of the employees were gone. On this occasion, she seemed like she didn’t want to leave the pond, so we got the sense that something was really wrong. We cautiously approached her to toss her an apple with some oral anti-inflammatories. She remained calm, so we attempted to administer an antibiotic injection in case there was any infection present. She didn’t particularly enjoy being stuck with a needle and stood up. At that point, we could see that either bone or tendon was exposed above her foot, so we knew the only way to properly care for her was to sedate her. That’s not something we take lightly, but since she didn’t try to run away with the first injection, we hoped to be able to find out how severe her injuries were, and this was the only way. Tapirs are large and can weigh 300 kilos (over 650 pounds), so once she was sedated, we had to carefully lift her onto a tarp to get her out of the pond and use the backhoe to gently carry her up the hill to the wildlife treatment area. The care team found that Sassy did in fact have exposed bone, so we cleaned, medicated, and bandaged her wound, gave her some additional injections, and put her in one of the wildlife enclosures to wake up. A couple of days later, Dr. Luciana (the horse veterinarian who comes for checkups every two weeks) and Dr. Mateus sedated her again to surgically debride the wound and take x-rays to show the extent of her injury. They found that the exposed bone had an infection, so taking care of the wound itself would not truly fix the problem. The team discussed options and shared her radiographs with some specialists and, because it didn’t appear the infection had spread, decided to have an orthopedist come to remove the infected bone to give her a chance at recovery and release. Everyone came up with a post-surgical treatment plan that also included figuring out how to clean and medicate a wild 300 kg tapir for the next two months. Scott and the maintenance team designed and built Sassy her own restraint chute in the rehabilitation center, so we have a safe place to treat her. It goes from […]

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Celebrating Healing this World Animal Day

Sara — Sat, 04 Oct 2025 18:00:27 +0000

It’s World Animal Day and, while our primary focus is on elephants, today we want to highlight the work our incredible team does with assisting native animals. We have a thriving rehabilitation and release program that works with wildlife who live in the region and are in need of medical care–or just a little nurturing until they are old or healthy enough to be on their own. We didn’t initially plan to create such an initiative, but once we arrived in the area, we found there was a need that was not being met. Elephants will always be at the heart of what we do, but making sure local wild animals remain healthy is essential to ensuring the sanctuary thrives. We’re grateful to be residents of this remarkable ecosystem, and we believe we have a responsibility to make sure the surrounding natural world is protected. The Cerrado in Brazil is home to an impressive number of species, some of which–like the many tapirs who wander the property–are endangered. The tapirs, along with toucans, macaws, deer, tortoises, anteaters, owls, a Harpy, and a critically endangered Chaco eagle, and many more have found a temporary home at Elephant Sanctuary Brazil. We are constantly improving our facilities and have created a system that allows animals to graduate from safe small spaces to larger enclosures as they heal and become more self-sufficient. Most recently, we were able to release a number of tamandua (or anteaters) who rehabbed with us, and they successfully re-integrated into their forest surroundings. We’re fortunate to have experienced such success so far, but we simply need more space to welcome wildlife in need. ESB has an experienced team that has created an integrated plan which includes thorough medical care, environmental research, and awareness of the full range of species in the area. Kat has specialized training in rehabilitation techniques and we have a knowledgeable staff of veterinarians and biologists to care for each animal as they heal. Our philosophy is to encourage the rehab residents to remain as wild as possible, so they are less dependent on (or even friendly with) humans. The current enclosures limit our ability to accept more animals for care at one time, and an upgrade of the original enclosures is necessary. The cost to fence in the planned expanded habitat and enclosures is $5,000, and this World Animal Day we’ve set a goal to raise those funds for the future of the animals in our care. The Rick & Michele Palmer Animal Relief Fund will match all gifts up to $2,500–so your donation will go twice as far. We have an opportunity for increased environmental outreach and, as part of the community, we’re dedicated to being a small part of the solution. Join us in celebrating World Animal Day. Make a gift today. Photos of (top to bottom): tapir, harpy, tamandua, toucan

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Releasing Mom and Aninha

Sara — Thu, 20 Mar 2025 18:00:40 +0000

As part of our animal rehabilitation and release program, we’ve been working with several tamanduas (or giant anteaters) that came to us a few months ago. We previously released Antony and Junior, leaving us with Mom and Aninha. Mom had been with us the longest, and we made sure to spend less time around her enclosure lately, distancing ourselves from her visually, so that she became less accustomed to humans around. When it came time to relocate her she was actually the most reluctant of all to deal with her humans when going into the crate. This was encouraging because of the extended time she spent with us due to her head trauma that caused her need for rehab. As you’ll see in the video, Mom was navigating the outside world quickly and confidently. Aninha is still young, about a year old, but her feeding behaviors and her weight made her a good candidate for release. She’s been showing a lot of natural behaviors, seeking out and interacting with logs, termite mounds, and fresh dirt piles we put in her enclosure. We introduced the crate with a little bit of special food inside it, and she was curious enough that she walked right in and ate contentedly while we closed the doors. So we drove her in the same direction as Antony but a bit closer and released her into the woods near a creek. She came out of the crate, sniffed around, and pretty immediately started digging for bugs at the base of a tree. We think both of them will do well back in nature where they belong.

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Biscoito’s Journey

Sara — Sun, 09 Feb 2025 19:00:31 +0000

We recently welcomed a young tapir (or anta, as they’re called in Brazil) to the sanctuary wildlife rehabilitation and release program. The local community authorities brought the little guy, who has been named Biscoito by the staff, but we’re not sure of his back story. When he arrived, he preferred fruit milkshakes to drink, but we have weaned him off of the milk, since he’s past old enough to eat and drink the appropriate meals. We have offered him a variety of fruits, greens, and vegetables in addition to the natural browse of leaves and fruit from local trees. Luckily, he seems drawn to the food that would come from foraging more than the produce we have given. This is good news, since he arrived at sanctuary overweight, and local environmentally suitable meals will help him become more acclimated to a natural life. Biscoito prefers ground cover and natural food to most of what we offer him, which is wonderful. He arrived a little too attached to humans for our comfort, so we’re working on fostering independence; it’s always for the best when animals who will be released into the wild aren’t too comfortable around humans. That will help him reacclimate to nature more quickly and live the life he was meant to. We’ll update you more about Biscoito as things progress in his healing and readiness for release.

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