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Our society is shifting; we are all starting to acknowledge and honor the emotional and psychological complexities of elephants. We now realize that the common practices of the past, elephants performing and traveling, living in undersized exhibits and experiencing social deprivation are unjust and inhumane. 

Presently, there are more than 5000 elephants in captivity worldwide and only 120 of those live in sanctuaries.  We want to shift the balance. Through the development of expansive natural habitat elephant sanctuaries internationally, we want to offer a home where captive elephants can experience a naturalistic life, cared for with dignity and respect where they can learn to trust and truly find sanctuary.

Our pilot project, Elephant Sanctuary Brazil, is moving steadily forward. Thanks to the commitment toward progressive change by our partner ElephantVoices and their volunteers at ElephantVoices Brazil we are edging closer to providing elephants from South America a brighter future.  To read more check out Elephant Sanctuary Brazil- stages of development and check back frequently to follow our blog updates.

The founding board of  GSE carries a unique collection of knowledge of elephant behavior and society, the damaged caused by life in captivity and how to provide a healing, holistic alternative for elephants in need. I’ve been blessed with the opportunity to watch elephants find sanctuary; I’ve walked by their side along the road to recovery, which isn’t always easy, but the result is simply brilliant.  Watching the layers of fear and anxiety melt away and witnessing elephants grow as they help each other unveil their true selves and experience a taste of what their lives would have been like if left with their families in the wild, is nothing short of extraordinary.  But it’s not always the profound growth that has the greatest impact. It’s the simple things: grazing on green pastures, swimming, wallowing in the mud, choosing their own friends or feeling safe enough to nap at the edge of the forest. Providing sanctuary is creating an opportunity for elephants to simply be elephants but it can be the difference between being alive and truly living. We know firsthand the dedication and commitment required to help elephants recover from their wounds and we also know that we can’t do it alone.  Our impact depends entirely on the family of donors and supporters; you are the lifeblood of our efforts.  We know very well that all of us are not able to financially contribute as much as we’d like to…”if we could just win the lottery”… But that doesn’t minimize the impact that each of us can bring to help us reach our goals.  We will be posting our long list of needs on our Wishlist.  Some of you may have direct contact with companies that can provide items like welding machines or tractors, others may know people that can help with professional services like logo design, transport companies or legal support and all of us can help spread the word.  With today’s social networks we are more connected than ever before, please share our website and Facebook page with your family and friends and help us expand our family of support.  Help us educate the world about the crisis elephants face in captivity and in the wild and what all of us can do to help provide a safe and respectful future for all elephants.

We are a brand new organization. Please take time to explore our website and share with us what you like, what you’d like to see in the future or want to read about in our blogs.  We feel that our growth will be rapid and exciting, please join in our commitment to promote positive change and welcome to our family.

Peace and Happiness,