Video: Mara, Bambi, and Rana Walk to Dinner

We all know that dinnertime is important to Mara – and she and Bambi (and sometimes Rana) trek to the barn for their evening meal. Before a recent feeding, Scott went out to see if the girls were headed toward the barn and found all three together and on their way.

This video shows each girl’s personality: Mara is on a mission to get to her chute to be fed, Bambi is just behind but getting occasionally distracted by exciting things to smell or touch, and Rana is following along to follow along. You can also notice that Mara is throwing dust to keep the bugs at bay. She dislikes them more than most, and dinnertime is at dusk – prime time for bugs.

This might be the first time that you have seen Mara’s uneven gait as she walks. She has an old injury on her right front wrist that occurred when she was about 5 years old and it causes her to lilt a bit. This is nothing new or abnormal for her; her ankle bends and is never 100% straight.

Mara is in the front (as expected), with Bambi and Rana following

Comments(15)

Kenneth B. Newman says
May 24, 2021 at 3:44 pm
Does the sun setting earlier during your wintertime affect the elephants eating, drinking, and social habits?
When its winter in the states, and you have sunshine that lasts longer, does that change the elephants eating , drinking, or social habits? , etc..
does GSE have a different schedule when the sun is setting either early or late in the day?
- REPLY
  Sara says
  May 24, 2021 at 4:28 pm
  The change in daylight doesn’t affect the elephants at all. They still expect dinner at the same time every day, etc. There is also plenty of grass and other things to graze on if they get hungry, as is the case all year round. So our schedule does not change.
Ellen Bollinger says
May 24, 2021 at 4:09 pm
Sweet babies…lets eat!!
Beji says
May 24, 2021 at 4:16 pm
Reservation for three, please…non-bug section….
Katie Howard says
May 24, 2021 at 4:17 pm
Gorgeous video! Beautiful girls! ❤️???❤️
SHEILA says
May 24, 2021 at 5:11 pm
YES! I SEE MARA’S ?RIGHT FOOT AND ANKLE SORTOF MOVING DIFFERENTLY FOR THE FIRST TIME❗️IVE NOTICED MARA SEEMS TO NOT HAVE PATIENCE FOR ?RANA NOW! THE MATRIARCH IS BRING UP THE REAR! AND BAMB ?KNOWS SHES SECOND IN LINE! YES MARA IS CERTAINLY NOT FOND OF BUGS! YES IF THE DUSTING HELP BUGS GET LOST MARA IS A SMART GAL? HOPE THAT THE LADIES ALWAYS HANG TOGETHER AT DINNER TIME??
Shannon Scott McKay says
May 24, 2021 at 5:15 pm
Thrilling and gratifying to see these beautiful creatures in a Parade of Their Own Making! Heartfelt thanks always for your marvelous work.
Carol says
May 24, 2021 at 6:24 pm
This video was AWESOME!!! Your explanation, superb, as always! Love our ladies! How is it going with our newbies? When is their quarantine done?
- REPLY
  Sara says
  May 24, 2021 at 9:35 pm
  They are still training, but getting more advanced. At the moment, we could not bring them to ESB anyway because Argentina has closed their borders to everyone except native Argentines and foreigners residing in the country. It’s an unfortunate delay, but we cannot put our team at risk by traveling at this time.
Anita Janusz-Wong says
May 24, 2021 at 9:27 pm
Beautiful video….I am always struck how peaceful it is there. No loud annoying people or city noises…just birds chirping…and all girls look soooo healthy now…..and fully relaxed….such a pleasure to watch….
Diana says
May 24, 2021 at 10:56 pm
Can you estimate how much weight each has gained since coming to the Sanctuary? They look so healthy compared to the “olden days”.
- REPLY
  Sara says
  May 25, 2021 at 3:36 pm
  We can’t tell you for sure at the moment, but we are going to try to weigh them again soon. We do know that Bambi has gained about 600 pounds since she arrived.
Sallie says
May 24, 2021 at 11:52 pm
I know the feeling re the ankle . . . Bad yoga move for me. GREAT vid! What a thrill to watch Las Tres Amigas walking the line to dinner, so organized and each has a job to fulfill. Especially those pesky bugs! Love the title of “Bug Duster”! And the Queen bringing up the rear. Whatta SUPER great vid. Such rhythm, such friendship!
Wim says
May 25, 2021 at 6:48 am
Wonderful threesome on the road together.
Their characters are spitting out of the footage.
How beautiful life can be.
????❤️
Carey says
May 25, 2021 at 8:40 pm
This gorgeous video could have been 3 wild elephants in their forest habitat. Whoever filmed it really captured the beauty. How peaceful their lives have become, how special after all they’ve been through

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