Space to Roam at Elephant Refuge of North America

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The small town of Attapulgus, Georgia, located less than 30 miles northwest of Tallahassee, will soon welcome some new large neighbors. Elephant Refuge of North America (ERNA) has recently made Attapulgus its home. Carol Buckley, the founder and president of Elephant Aid International (EAI), the parent company of ERNA, has been caring for elephants for decades and graciously gave us a tour of the refuge’s stunning site as well as insight on all she has done and is currently doing for elephants locally and internationally.

 

ERNA spans 850 acres of land with many qualities that make it a suitable habitat for elephants. The location’s humidity, mild nighttime temperatures, warm winters, and annual rainfall of 50 inches make it the perfect environment for elephants. ERNA’s location offers a mixture of forest and pasture land as well as ten fresh water springs, two lakes, a pond, and a creek. One lake, appropriately named Elephant Lake, has a sloped entry and a shallow area that the elephants are sure to enjoy. The abundance of natural water sources makes this location even more ideal as older elephants naturally do not stray far from water. The vegetation change throughout the refuge is also great for elephants. Throughout the enclosures, hardwood bottoms, which are areas canopied by trees, provide the perfect spot for elephants to cool off in the midday heat. There is plenty of grass and bamboo on the property as well as river cane and sweet gum trees, which elephants love. The elephants will be able to live off the land as they would in their natural habitat thanks to the natural vegetation on site. However, caregivers will assess each elephant’s needs and provide supplemental food as needed, and they will likely use supplemental feeding initially to help build trust between the caregivers and elephants. The environment of the refuge should only improve as the elephants make it their home as elephants play crucial roles in their ecosystem. In fact, ecosystems often fail when elephants leave the area. Buckley describes them as the “keystone species” or “architect” of their ecosystem since their impact helps maintain overgrown vegetation, open up dense wooded areas creating pastures, and even recycle bio-matter. An elephant only retains about 46% of its nutritional intake after digestion, leaving the remaining 54% to be cycled back into the ecosystem.

 

With Buckley’s vast knowledge of and experience with elephants, she has designed ERNA with the natural herd behavior and culture of elephants in mind. Elephants are matriarchal by nature, and ERNA plans to accept solely female elephants due to the nature of elephant social structures. Naturally, elephants live in matriarchal herds made up of females of all ages and preadolescent males. The female herd has developed to raise calves, while mature males often live a semi solitary existence. In the wild, male elephants are pushed out of the herd as they mature and form temporary bachelor herds with other young male elephants. The young male elephants follow an adult male elephant to learn behavior and then separate to live less socially. In addition, males in musth (annual season) can be very dangerous.

 

Having a herd-like social community at ERNA will make it easier for the elephants to adjust after they arrive. The refuge plans to house a maximum of ten elephants to ensure healthy herd dynamics. Carol has personally witnessed a seven member elephant herd struggling when another elephant was introduced into the herd. After the addition of an additional member, the herd fractured. Relationships were negatively affected when the herd grew larger than is natural for Asian elephants. Therefore, ERNA will monitor and be mindful of the herd’s well-being as they introduce new elephants to the refuge.

 

Elephants have a seventy to eighty year lifespan, and the elephants who will call ERNA home have likely been through many difficult circumstances throughout their decades of life. Construction of the required fencing and barns is near completion. There are no elephants in residence yet, but plans are underway to welcome Mundi, an African elephant currently living in the Dr. Juan A. Rivera Zoo in Puerto Rico.

 

Despite the zoo’s caregivers’ best efforts, the government of Puerto Rico, citing their own welfare regulations, determined that it was in Mundi’s best interest to move to ERNA. Mundi has spent the last twenty-nine years in a small zoo enclosure alone. There has been concern expressed by those who know Mundi regarding her ability to socialize with other elephants considering her decades of isolation. Carol shared a story of an elephant she helped rescue, Bunny, whose experience was similar to Mundi’s. After forty years of living alone in captivity, Bunny was nervous upon arriving at a sanctuary. However, she immediately relaxed when greeted by a resident elephant named Tarra. Bunny instantly relaxed around Tarra and followed her to meet the rest of the herd. It did not take long for Bunny to join the herd as she led her new friends to wade in a nearby pond.

 

The goal is to welcome Mundi by the end of 2018. At the refuge, Mundi will not only be able to receive the proper resources for her care, but she will also be able to socialize with other elephants. There are plans in place to welcome other elephants in addition to Mundi, and a new herd will hopefully form at the refuge soon.

 

However, before they can welcome Mundi and the other elephants, the quarantine barn needs to be built. Construction has started, and the quarantine barn is expected to be completed by the end of this summer. The barn will be the first area an elephant will be introduced to in order to allow her to adjust to her new home and undergo non-invasive medical examinations. During this time, the elephant will have access to a 100 acre area of the property complete with pastures, dense woods and a pond.

 

Most elephants will need to get used to their new freedom. Some elephants may spend as little as an hour in the barn while others may spend a week, always with the option to explore as far as they are comfortable. Retired circus elephants will likely spend less time in the barn since they have traveled and are more accustomed to different situations than retiring zoo elephants.

 

The refuge’s goal is to make the elephants feel safe. In addition to addressing physical conditions, the refuge will focus on the mental and emotional health of the elephants. Carol has experienced that minor physical conditions usually improve following the improvement of mental and emotional conditions. Once an elephant is fully acclimated to the 100-acre quarantine area, she will transition to the remaining 750 acres of land to join the herd. ERNA hopes to welcome Mundi as soon as possible once the barn is finished and more elephants shortly after her arrival.

 

The elephants’ privacy is a high priority for ERNA, and only caregivers will be granted access to the elephants’ habitat. Leaving behind a lifetime of entertainment and exhibit, it is crucial that the elephants have a chance to lead a normal life. After construction is finished, the Elephant Refuge of North America will not be open to visits from the public. To ensure privacy, the refuge has a double gated entry and double fence system. While staff and volunteers will be able to enter the first gate, only elephant caregivers will have access beyond the second gate. A primary fence surrounds the property for privacy, and a second fence secures the elephants in their new habitat, allowing them uninterrupted access to the land within the refuge.

 

Carol Buckley has over forty years of experience working with elephants, twenty-five of which she says she has been working for elephants. She studied exotic animal training at Moorpark College, and while she was there, she met a baby elephant named Fluffy who was a mascot of sorts for a tire store. Carol voluntarily helped care for Fluffy, trained her, and booked her to perform at a theme park in 1976. Buckley eventually bought Fluffy (whom she renamed Tarra) in order to provide the best care for her and give her a better life. Tarra has served as inspiration for much of what Buckley has accomplished. In 1995, Carol purchased land for her and Tarra to retire and reside for the remainder of their lives. Following the advice of a group of elephant lovers, the land was named The Elephant Sanctuary, and a non profit was established to make a home for needy elephants.

 

Unfortunately, after fifteen years and rescuing twenty-three elephants, Buckley had to part with the sanctuary and has been working to regain custody of Tarra for seven years. Her hope is to one day have Tarra call ERNA home. Although she may want to, Carol understands she cannot provide sanctuary for every elephant. Therefore, with the refuge, she hopes to create a model others can use in the future to build other sanctuaries.

 

Buckley is the founder, president, and CEO of Elephant Aid International, a non-profit organization that is a parent company of ERNA. Through EAI, Carol seeks to improve elephants’ lives in Asia. She travels to several Asian countries educating elephant trainers, called mahouts, on compassionate, humane training techniques as well as teaching them proper foot care, creating corrals to get the elephants off chains, and advocating for institutional changes. The documentary Unchained (2017) depicts the tradition of chaining elephants in Asian countries and Buckley’s advocacy for “chain-free means pain-free” training. According to Carol, progress and changes to elephant care are slowly being made in Asia. Buckley wants people to understand as much as we thrive on autonomy, elephants do the same. When we deprive elephants of autonomy, we are harming them. With autonomy, they thrive while lack of autonomy usually causes ailments.

 

If you would like to join Carol in her efforts to improve elephants’ lives, there are a few things you can do. First, let people know. Share the news about what Buckley is doing through EAI and ERNA with your friends. The documentary Unchained is a helpful tool for spreading awareness, and Carol is happy to do speaking engagements at schools and other groups to spread awareness and education as well.

 

Secondly, donate. Elephant Refuge of North America is funded by donations and fundraisers. Their current fundraising campaigns are their build the barn and Mundi’s move campaigns. At the time of our tour, they had raised enough to pay for half of the barn, and so far they have raised approximately 40% of Mundi’s moving expenses. Each donation toward one of these campaigns reduces the time Mundi spends in a place that lacks proper resources and socialization with other elephants.

 

You can also donate your time by lending a hand on volunteer days at the refuge. ERNA is also looking for some dedicated individuals to work as office staff, interns, or elephant caregivers. If you are interested in applying, you can email carol@elephantaidinternational.org. She also has a small volunteer program with Elephant Aid International, through which she allows a few interns to join her on her trips to Asia to learn about the work she does there. You can find more information about how you can get involved at www.elephantaidinternational.org.

 

Carol Buckley said, “When you get to know elephants, [you realize] we should be like them.” Elephants are beautiful, intelligent, and loving animals. We hope you will consider helping provide refuge for these incredible creatures.  

 

Alix Clise and Kimberly McMahon

Home & Yard Magazine