Stews 4 Elephants

06/21/2024

We’ve spoken in the past about elephant mothers and babies, but what about grandmothers and elephant calves? This week’s EleFact will focus on the role that grandmothers play in the survival of calves and the breeding success of their daughters.

Researchers have found that wild Asian elephant mothers under the age of 20 have a maternal mortality rate eight times lower if the grandmother lives in the same place as the mother and calf than if she does not. Having grandmothers nearby also decreases the intervals between births by a year, so the mothers are having calves more frequently when grandmothers are around. It’s theorized that elephant mothers who are older than 20 don’t benefit from the grandmother’s presence as much, possibly because they have enough calf rearing experience to succeed without the help of their mother. Additionally, the more calves the grandmother reared herself before her “grandcalf” was born, the better the chances of survival the new elephant has. In other words, experienced grandmothers can potentially be life changing for newborn elephants with young mothers.

In the wild, elephants can live up to approximately 80 years and experience multiple generations of females and their babies. In zoos, it is rare to see multi-generational families, and calf mortality can be as high as 50% in their first year of life. This again suggests that having an experienced grandmother around could possibly have an impact on the survival of newborn elephants.

The study also highlights the importance of preventing poaching, especially when the target is an older, larger female. Their presence could be critical for the survival of a younger generation of elephants and their removal could pose critical threats to an already deeply endangered species.

If you’d like to read more about the study, you can do so here:
https://www.nature.com/articles/srep27213

Photo of sweet Rana

06/19/2024

Happy Juneteenth! This day we celebrate the fight for freedom and justice for everyone. Let’s continue on our journey of equality and inclusivity for all!

06/14/2024

The best thing you will see today!

06/06/2024

The new dynamics among the 5 girls of GSE

06/01/2024

More fun from Triple Trouble!

05/31/2024

Another victim of an illness caused by living in captivity. It seems Charlotte was never pregnant, rather suffers from a disease caused by her captive life… “The “polycystic condition” can throw female stingrays’ hormones out of whack due to the artificial environment, causing them to produce milk and look bloated and pregnant, said University of North Florida biologist James Gelsleichter.”

Please don’t spend your money going to any venue that uses wild captive animals as a draw. When we stop going, the venues will stop the captivity. Your dollars speak volumes.

The Aquarium and Shark Lab in North Carolina released a vague announcement about Charlotte’s “sad” illness Thursday.

05/27/2024

We received a delivery of two loads of steel this week. It’s a wonderful thing, because it means that we get to build more fencing and continue to expand the female African elephant habitat. But it’s also a reminder that no matter how much grief you face, life continues to go on around you. While we’re trying to move forward and accept that Lady is gone, time doesn’t stand still.

Because things just keep going, grief hits you when you least expect it. Lady is everywhere – from her medicine containers to her list of foods on the meal board to her favorite spots in the habitat – so we’re left with reminders all around. We were grateful to have spent so much time with Lady, but now the schedule just seems off, as if you just know you’re supposed to be doing something, and it eventually occurs to you why. You have to stop, take a moment for yourself, and just keep going.

But the nighttime still feels magical. Since Lady left us, it seems that there’s been some sort of otherworldly vibe during the evenings. Whatever messages she must have sent to the other elephants appear to have resulted in a sense of fun and lightness all around. Perhaps the other girls are celebrating Lady’s life in the way she would have wanted: with trumpets and rumbles and an easy sense of peace. In spite of the more difficult parts of the day, we can still take the time to appreciate this sanctuary life and, in spite of sorrow, the miraculous gifts that Lady gave us over the years.

Photo of Lady standing before a rainbow

05/27/2024

For our friends in the UK.. come meet Lek!

We are thrilled to announce that the latest film about our founder Saengduean Lek Chailert ‘s work for elephants, titled Elephant Mother, is coming to the UK 🇬🇧!

Lek will be present at all screenings, followed by a Q&A session where you can ask her anything about her incredible journey and dedication to these majestic creatures.

For more information and to purchase tickets, visit the link below:

https://www.picturehouses.com/movie-details/000/HO00014559/green-screen-tour-elephant-mother-panel/0000000106?cinema=0

Leave a comment below which location you'll be joining us at 👇🏻

We look forward to catching up with many friends soon!




#มูลนิธิอนุรักษ์ช้างและสิ่งแวดล้อม

05/26/2024

05/24/2024

On previous EleFact Fridays we’ve discussed how elephants can communicate via vibrations that they feel in their feet. Today’s EleFact takes that idea a little further and looks at whether elephants can be located by scientists not just by their vocalizations, but also by these seismic waves.

Researchers examined the differences between audible and seismic communications and found that vibrational signals were actually more accurate than acoustic ones in tracking down elephants. When looking at the same event – a rumble – through sound versus through vibration, vibrations were more accurate in locating elephants over 85% of the time.

When examining the data, researchers found that there’s a possibility that there are advantages of using seismic waves to locate and follow elephants over methods like GPS tracking or wildlife camera surveillance. Seismic sensors are easy to bury, while acoustic microphones are placed above ground and have the potential to be exposed to winds, rain, solar radiation, or be damaged by wildlife. Vibrations can travel in all directions and are also more effective in areas of thick vegetation, where cameras can’t be placed.

All of this information can inform decisions made regarding human and elephant interactions, which are increasingly important when considering climate change, habitat loss, and human-wildlife conflict.

To view the data used in this study, you can read the paper here:
https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.1098/rsif.2021.0264

Photo of Rana enjoying some hay with Mara in the background

05/17/2024

An update on the new land at Thula Thula - Exclusive Private Game Reserve. Soon the elephants will have much more space to explore!

05/17/2024

Beautiful Lady!

05/16/2024

Our hearts are broken…
RIP Lady, may you now be pain free. 💔

We are saddened to announce that our beloved Lady passed away quietly on Wednesday evening, May 15. She was humanely euthanized after lying down and not showing any interest in getting up again. There are no records of her birth, but we believe that she was approximately 52 years old.

Before she lay down, part of her routine was receiving pain medicine 3 times per day. Someone was with her at 10pm on Monday and she was standing next to the big, beautiful tree in the first male Asian yard; she would often put her rear end against the trunk and sleep. At 6am, she was found lying down in the second male Asian yard. We checked to make sure she was alive, but she was very still and quiet and not giving any indication that she wanted to do anything other than stay where she was.

There were some signs around her body that she’d moved a little in the night, but nothing indicated that she had tried to get up. The entire time that she was lying down, she was still there mentally, but she seemed less responsive than any elephant we’ve ever seen that was down for any length of time. Normally, you would see some dusting or ear flapping – even on the ground, they remain active – but there was none of that from Lady. She would sleep, and when approached, would open her eyes and look at you, but then go right back to sleep. She was monitored all day Tuesday, continued receiving her pain medication, but there was no change in her status. On Wednesday morning, our entire veterinary team was here, including Mateus, Dr. Trish, and Dr. Luciana, the contracted equine vet who does rounds with us every two weeks. As a group of people who work with Lady all the time, we evaluated her and sadly agreed that Lady seemed like she was done fighting and was ready to go.

Six months ago, when her most recent bout of inflammation emerged, you could tell the struggle was different. She had a small rebound when we began a homeopathic remedy; she could bend her elbows and lie down again. But that upswing was short lived and it started to become evident that we might not see the rebound that we were hoping for. This past week we saw a bigger shift and those things that made her Lady were starting to slowly disappear.

One of the things we tell all of our elephants is: You fight, we fight. We will always work to help an elephant who is still pushing to live. We offered Lady water, coconut water, and Gatorade but she would just take it in her nose and spit it out. She wasn’t much interested in food, and when we gave her anything to eat, most often she’d just hold it in her mouth until she fell asleep, and then the food would just roll out. She did show some enthusiasm when she was offered Froot Loops after we took a blood sample, but it seems almost no elephant can refuse them ever.

We did not try to lift her; she hadn’t been rocking or showing interest in moving. Trying to lift an elephant, especially one who has never been lifted before, can cause great stress to the animal. But if they don’t want to stand, trying to lift them only causes more harm.. You can’t make an elephant stand in that situation.

Part of autonomy is giving each elephant the ability to decide not to go on. The only reasons not to respect what Lady seemed to be telling us would be selfish ones. As difficult as the realization is, we all knew that this problem wasn’t going away. Even if she were to magically decide to stand up, we would be in the same place with her in a week, a month, or possibly in another few hours. We consulted with experts around the world about her care and treatments, everyone from zoos to sanctuaries to human and equine facilities; we tried traditional medicine, complementary therapies like laser therapy, homeopathy, energy work, anything to find a non-harmful remedy that might provide her some relief, but always with limited success. Still, these things are what gifted her four years at sanctuary when we initially thought she wouldn’t last even one.

Given the state of her feet upon rescue, it is likely that Lady endured foot disease for at least two decades. Her strength and resolve and her need for emotional connection with her caregivers made her a great teacher for all of us. She always seemed to know what she wanted and it appeared to all of us that she was ready to be released from the pain she lived with for so long. She was unlike any elephant we’ve ever encountered and we don’t expect to see another like her in our lifetime. We plan to lay her to rest just outside the habitat fences, because Lady was always looking out to see what was just beyond the next hill or valley or grassy clearing. We want to honor the part of her that wanted a life that did not contain her. Now her body and spirit both know just that.

We will be opening a memorial space and holding a Celebration of Life on Facebook Live, Saturday, May 18th, at 11 a.m. EDT / 3 p.m. UTC. Please feel welcomed to drop in anytime to listen to music and look at photos of her. We will read her eulogy and some of your tributes at 12 p.m. EDT / 4 p.m. UTC. The link to view her eulogy and leave a tribute is here: https://globalelephants.org/in-memory-of-lady

05/15/2024

05/08/2024

Recently, Stews 4 Elephants volunteered at Elephant Haven in France. Everything that is done at EHEES is done with the elephants wellbeing first and foremost. During our week, we stacked wood, cleaned the barn, washed the barn windows, Cleaned the food cooler, cleared plastic and fencing from the new expansion, painted, cut nettles, and helped Tony and Sofie however we could. There was never any interaction with the elephants, a true sanctuary. We look forward to our next visit.
Thank you to all who sent donations from the Amazon Gift List. All items were delivered.
If you want to donate to EHEES via S4E, please use this link👇🏼

https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=36G4VJL97MLNC

05/07/2024

05/06/2024

Congratulations to Thula Thula - Exclusive Private Game Reserve! Well deserved!