41-year-old elephant headed to South Georgia sanctuary after 5-year rescue effort
Since 2018, Elephant Aid International, based approximately 30 miles from Tallahassee, has been battling to rescue a wild born female elephant, Mundi, from the island zoo in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico.
Mundi is 41 years old and has been living in isolation at the zoo for 35 years, something that EAI founder and CEO, Carol Buckley, feels is detrimental to an any elephant’s livelihood.
“When elephants live alone, they suffer psychologically and physically,” Buckley told the Tallahassee Democrat Tuesday. “They are designed to live with other elephants.”
After a five-year effort to rescue Mundi, the Elephant Refuge of North America, a subsidiary of Elephant Aid International, now expects Mundi’s arrival on May 4.
“It is really a matter of our responsibility,” Buckley said. “Now she’ll have true autonomy.”
Mundi will live at the refuge in Attapulgus, Georgia, with two other elephants, Bo, a 34-year-old male, and Tarra, a 49-year-old female. The refuge is an authentic sanctuary closed to public visitation.
Background on Mundi the elephant
Mundi is 8 feet tall and weighs 8,000 pounds. She is blind in one eye and has a damaged tusk. She will now have 850 acres of forests, pastures, and streams to explore, compared to a quarter of an acre exhibit yard and enclosed shelter where she has been housed.
Mundi was born in Zimbabwe in 1982 and was orphaned before she was transported to Ocala, Florida in 1984 on a rescue mission, according to Buckley. In 1986 she was sold to the Puerto Rican zoo and has been in isolation since, Buckley said in a release.
Buckley told the Democrat that an elephant being forced to live in isolation is as lonely as “a person being forced to live alone in a closet.”
“Elephants never lose their wildness, they are simply deprived of it,” Buckley said.
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Why was Mundi held in Puerto Rico for so long?
After Hurricane Maria ripped through Puerto Rico in 2017, the island zoo lost its USDA license and closed. A contract was signed between Buckley and the governor of Puerto Rico to rescue Mundi, but due to bureaucratic issues, the contract was canceled, she said.
Buckley, with the help of other rescue organizations and advocates in Puerto Rico, has been working on her release ever since.
In February, Buckley received word that the U.S. Department of Justice ordered the zoo to close permanently and relocate all the remaining animals to reputable sanctuaries.
“If they would not have continued to make this effort, we would not see what we see today,” Buckley told the Democrat.
Buckley said a team of veterinarians evaluated Mundi and found no immediate health issues. Buckley believes Mundi will naturally socialize with the other elephants at the sanctuary once she gets acclimated.
“I believe that they will gravitate towards each other immediately,” Buckley said.
Mundi will be flown in a custom-built transport crate on a 747 flight from Puerto Rico to Jacksonville, Florida, then be transported by truck to the Attapulgus refuge.
When Mundi arrives, Buckley and her team plan to place her in a 7-acre yard where she can roam freely and interact with Bo and Tarra through a fence.
At this stage, Buckley wants Mundi’s rehabilitation to be at her own pace.
Cameras are placed throughout the habitat for live streaming the elephants without disrupting their natural behavior.
To view the movement, go to https://www.youtube.com/c/ElephantAidInternational1
Contact Democrat writer Alaijah Brown at ABrown1@gannett.com and on Twitter at @BrownAlaijah.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Mundi the elephant to leave Puerto Rico, arrive at sanctuary in Georgia
