Global Sanctuary for Elephants
After 50 years of working for the circus, Ramba, an Asian elephant, is finally making the 2,551-mile journey to her forever home in Brazil to live her golden years.
Escorted by elephant welfare experts and some dedicated volunteers, Ramba caught a flight out of Santiago, Chile, on October 16th.
After she flew over the Andes Mountains, she landed safely in Campinas, Brazil. From there, Ramba continued for a three-day drive before reaching the 2,800-acre Elephant Sanctuary Brazil, situated in the Brazilian municipality of Chapada dos Guimarães.
Those were the final steps of a journey that began over seven years ago. Back in 2012, Ecopolis—a Chilean animal welfare group—reportedly contacted the Global Elephant Sanctuary (GSE) to help rescue Ramba from her abusive circus owners.
After years of neglect, Ecopolis had petitioned the Chilean government to confiscate Ramba, which successfully ended the practice of performing circus elephants across Chile.
Thanks to elephant experts Scott Blais and Kat Blais, Ramba was safely transported to a roadside zoo somewhere in Chile as a temporary facility pending eventual relocation to an elephant sanctuary—as with no elephant sanctuary in all of South America, one had to be built for her.
With over 6,000 captive elephants around the world, fewer than 250 have been offered life in sanctuaries.
Nevertheless, there's a swell of support growing in the US and abroad from individuals that care deeply about the lifetime health and welfare of captive elephants. In South America, five countries passed national bans to prohibit the use of performing elephants.
South America isn't alone in this struggle to find progressive alternatives for elephant care, as some independent efforts all around the globe to create elephant sanctuaries have stagnated at the conceptual phase, while elephants still endure unintended neglect.
Ramba has lived in isolation for the majority of her life. Upon entering Sanctuary she'll be greeted by Rana, who arrived last December after years in isolation, and Maia, who came in October 2016 with her friend Guida. Maia and Guida were confiscated from the circus and lived for five years in chains on a private farm waiting for sanctuary.
After years of struggles, we now received word that Ramba’s transport permits were approved. Thanks to caring people who have worked tirelessly for years, and hundreds of donors who supported her care, after seven years, the pieces have finally fallen into place.
COMMENTS