After a grueling journey all the way from Mendoza, Argentina, Kenya the elephant has arrived at her new home at the Elephant Sanctuary in Central Western Brazil. She’s the newest resident of the 1,000 hectare refuge.
Brazil elephant sanctuary welcomes its newest resident, rescued from a zoo in Argentina
In this Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2016 photo, Scott Blais, sanctuary technician, feeds Asian elephant Guida on the road to her new home in Chapada dos Guimaraes, Brazil.
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“It was a 5 day trip, almost 4,000 kilometers from Mendoza to the sanctuary in Chapada dos Guimarães in Mato Grosso," says Daniel Moura, Director and Biologist at Santuário de Elefantes Brasil. "More than 20 people were directly involved in the motorcade, with police escorts from the border in Foz do Igaçu until the sanctuary.”
After spending most of her life alone in a zoo, Kenya will join six other Asian elephants, including the previous newcomer, Pupy, who arrived in April.
“Now she only needs to get used to her new environment," says Moura. "It should be very quick like Pupy. Soon they’ll be together exploring this very rich place of more than 50,000 square meters of forests, where they can enjoy nature, a very enriching enviroment for them, that’s what they deserve.”
The Elephant Sanctuary Brazil, Latin America's first such refuge, is now home to seven elephants who were all rescued after spending decades in circuses or zoos.