my buick bucket list trip: the elephant sanctuary in tennessee

Yesterday, I told you about arriving in Nashville for our amazing Buick Bucket List trip.

Well, The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee is about an hour and forty minutes away from Nashville so, after spending way less time at the Hermitage Hotel than we would have liked, we packed up the Encore, set the GPS and headed out to spend the morning with Education Manager Todd Montgomery and Communications & Marketing Manager Mary Beth Ikard.

Mary Beth had suggested we take the scenic route – the Natchez Trace Parkway, which is run by the National Park Service – and we were glad we did. Quiet, empty and just plain gorgeous, the views are spectacular and gave us a very different look at Tennessee.

When we pulled into the little town of Hohenwald, where the Elephant Sanctuary has its Welcome Center, we were greeted by Todd and Mary Beth, who treated us to a special presentation about the 13 magnificent creatures in their care.

Their stories could break your heart.

Most of the elephants have been brought to the Sanctuary after years in zoos and circuses, and many have suffered abuse. The Sanctuary’s mission is to provide a haven for them, where they can rest, feel at home as part of a herd, receive individualized care for life – and just be elephants.

Because of that, the Sanctuary is not open to the public except for volunteer days one Saturday a month. There is only protected contact between the caregivers and the elephants, and although you can take photos, you can’t post them online because they don’t want people just showing up at the Sanctuary. I was given special permission to share the one above but all of these rules completely made me re-think the way society looks at animals.

Before we came, I have to admit I was kind of disappointed that Todd and Mary Beth kept warning me not to expect a photo like this one from my elephant interaction in Botswana last summer. In fact, she gently suggested I develop a healthy fear of them.

That was one of the most joyous moments of my life and, here, I was going to be with those gorgeous animals again.

But, the more we heard the details of these elephants’ histories – Frieda suffers with terrible foot problems from being locked in barns for years, Sissy was submerged in a flood for 36 hours, Tarra spent much of her life as a mascot in a used auto parts parking lot – I completely understood.

The animals are not here for our entertainment.

Of course it’s a joy to watch them – but it should never be at their expense. They should not be performing in circuses or taking people for rides at fairs or wandering aimlessly in zoos. They should be left alone in their natural habitats. We should be watching them on the Ele-cam instead.

Todd and Mary Beth put together a CD of photos for me, which I turned into this USA Today slideshow. I hope you’ll check it out and then get to know each of the elephants personally here.

These elephants understand and feel deeply, as is obvious in these videos, both of which took place at the Sanctuary.

You’ve probably seen this one of Tarra, whose BFF was Bella, a dog who had wandered on to the property. (Interesting note: a puppy did the same thing the day we were there, and we’re wondering which elephant will befriend her!) According to Todd, “Tarra educated us all on what it means to be a friend and to deal with what life hands you. She taught us to always be ready to meet your best friend.”

And then there’s this one of Jenny and Shirley who had an emotional reunion after 20 years.

Todd and Mary Beth offered to take us on a tour of the Sanctuary, which covers 2700 acres and a 25-acre lake.

They asked if we could drive there in the Encore so, after we took a selfie and made a couple of jokes about which had the bigger trunk – the car or the elephants? – we took the bumpy road into the wilderness the elephants call home.

Thank goodness for the Encore’s all wheel drive.

We drove around the massive fence that protects the elephants from outsiders, and laughed when Todd explained that it’s Flora-tested and, so far, Flora-approved. You see, elephants can’t climb or jump but they can certainly knock things down. Big things like trees and fences. And Flora is a pro at knocking those down.

We also saw where some of the elephants had been buried. It was very moving to hear about the death of Dulary in December, a 50-year-old who had spent most of her life at the Philadelphia Zoo.

When she died, her friends Misty and Tarra both vocalized strongly and stood around her body. It was obvious the elephants were mourning, and they even brought food over to the dead body.

Because Dulary and Misty liked to stay close to the barn, their caregivers were concerned about what would happened to Misty now that her good friend was gone. Much to their surprise, she recently ventured out on her own and is now exploring areas she’s never visited before.

This is great news and proof of the comfort the elephants feel at the Sanctuary.

Todd and Mary Beth told us about the horrendous effects poaching has had on the elephant population – Asian elephants are now on the endangered list and African elephants are vulnerable – and shocked us with the fact that New York City is second only to Hong Kong in trading ivory.

This issue is being brought to the forefront by acts like the Clinton Global Initiative and the dropping of ivory appraisals by Antiques Roadshow. The American Zoo Association has amended regulations so there must be at least three elephants in a zoo, to mimic a tribe. Locally, the petitions we’ve signed have resulted in the end of elephant rides at the Del Mar Fair.

There is hope, and my goal is to keep raising awareness of the elephants’ plight. Who wants to imagine a world without elephants?

All in all, we had an amazing morning with Todd and Mary Beth, which led to lunch at Junkyard Dog, where we continued the discussion, got their recommendations for favorite spots once we got back to Nashville and ate like, well, elephants.

We couldn’t wait to return tomorrow to volunteer.