My husband and I are members of a group called Team Green. They’re an adventure club sponsored by one of the local radio stations. Each month they organize a variety of activities for members, many of which are also open to the public.
I was scanning the list of events for this month when one in particular really caught my eye: volunteer day at the Elephant Sanctuary on May 19th.
An elephant sanctuary? In Tennessee? I never knew!
Not too many months back I watched a piece on CBS’s 60 Minutes about a woman in Africa who runs a sanctuary for orphaned baby elephants. It was fascinating how much care they gave them. Each elephant had their own person who slept right there in the hay with them every night and stayed with them all day.
Many of the elephants died, though. Even with good care, many got sick and went “crazy” (I can’t remember what term they used, but essentially they did lose their minds) because they’d seen their parents die and suffered such trauma from it they couldn’t get over it.
One little elephant in particular that they profiled throughout the whole story because it had nearly died when it first arrived, but then had responded to the care and was doing good, ended up dying just a few weeks after filming. I remember bawling like crazy after watching that segment. Since then, I have frequently thought about that elephant and the sanctuary devoted to saving them.
Then come to find out there’s a similar sanctuary right here in Tennessee? Wow!
Except this one is a little different. The elephants are mostly older, having been retired from circuses and zoos. But what a place to spend retirement! The sanctuary is the largest natural habitat refuge in the nation, sitting on 2,700 acres. Their mission is two-fold:
1. To provide a haven for old, sick or needy elephants in a setting of green pastures, old-growth forests, spring-fed ponds and a heated barn for cold winter nights.
2. To provide education about the crisis facing these social, sensitive, passionately intense, playful, complex, exceedingly intelligent and endangered creatures.
n’t have direct contact with the elephants, but are assigned to tasks that nonetheless help them. They have a detailed page explaining rules, requirements, and available dates if you’d ever consider taking a trip to participate.
But say you don’t live near Tennessee or can’t take a trip here, but want to help nonetheless. Easy!
Other Ways You Can Help the Elephants
“Meet” the Elephants (From the comfort of your home!)
You can view pictures and read bios of all the elephants currently residing at the sanctuary on the Meet Our Elephants page.
You can also view the elephants in action via the EleCam .
How’s this for a cute tagline? It’s on the Elephant Sanctuary’s home page:
“So they loaded up their trunks and they moved to Tennessee”
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