We have to know their normal (Pocha & Guille Part 6)

This week’s podcast dives deeper into Pocha and Guille’s dysfunctional relationship. Drawing on decades of experience, Kat and Scott discuss how the two elephants’ bond was shaped by an unnatural life lacking the mental and physical stimulation essential for elephants.

We also explore Pocha’s health and how she presented herself to the team after arriving at Elephant Sanctuary Brazil (ESB). Scott and Kat highlight the importance of daily observation at the sanctuary to understand each elephant’s baseline behavior, allowing subtle changes that signal physical or mental discomfort to be detected early.

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The episode transcript can be found here.

Email: We’d love to hear from you podcast@globalelephants.org

Who we are: Global Sanctuary for Elephants exists to create vast, safe spaces for captive elephants, where they are able to heal physically and emotionally. There are elephants around the world in need of sanctuary, but too few places exist to be able to care for even a fraction of the elephants. International support is necessary to build sanctuaries for elephants in need of rescue and rehabilitation. Our pilot project is Elephant Sanctuary Brazil, currently home to six female Asian elephants.

Website: https://globalelephants.org/

Donate: Global Sanctuary for Elephants is a U.S. 501(c)3 non-profit. Our work is made possible by donations. You can support our work with a general donation, purchasing items from our wishlist, or adopting one (or all) of our elephants for a year. You can also donate with Crypto!

Thank you for your support!

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This presentation is protected by U.S. and International copyright laws. Reproduction and distribution of the presentation or its contents without written permission of the sponsor is prohibited.

© 2023 Global Sanctuary for Elephants

A big Thank You to the talented musicians Mike McGill, Ron McGill, & Sean Rodriquez for composing our podcast jingle.

We start off this week's episode with the recent news of Kuky, the female African elephant at the Buenos Aires EcoPark, who passed away suddenly. Scott shares more details about how long the permit process has taken for the three female African elephants waiting to come to the sanctuary.

Then we go back to May 2022, when Pocha and Guille arrived at the sanctuary but weren’t quite ready to leave their transport crates. After decades in a sterile, subterranean exhibit, the sights, sounds, and smells that mother and daughter experienced during those first hours at sanctuary must have been overwhelming.

Please note: This episode was recorded prior to the events at the Aalborg Zoo, Denmark and originally scheduled for release on 5. Nov.

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Watch all videos of Pocha and Guillermina’s relocation.

The episode transcript can be found here.

Email: We’d love to hear from you podcast@globalelephants.org

Who we are: Global Sanctuary for Elephants exists to create vast, safe spaces for captive elephants, where they are able to heal physically and emotionally. There are elephants around the world in need of sanctuary, but too few places exist to be able to care for even a fraction of the elephants. International support is necessary to build sanctuaries for elephants in need of rescue and rehabilitation. Our pilot project is Elephant Sanctuary Brazil, currently home to six female Asian elephants.

Website: https://globalelephants.org/

Donate: Global Sanctuary for Elephants is a U.S. 501(c)3 non-profit. Our work is made possible by donations. You can support our work with a general donation, purchasing items from our wishlist, or adopting one (or all) of our elephants for a year. You can also donate with Crypto!

Thank you for your support!

Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter & YouTube

While we encourage and appreciate you sharing our podcast, please note that…

This presentation is protected by U.S. and International copyright laws. Reproduction and distribution of the presentation or its contents without written permission of the sponsor is prohibited.

© 2023 Global Sanctuary for Elephants

A big Thank You to the talented musicians Mike McGill, Ron McGill, & Sean Rodriquez for composing our podcast jingle.

On October 29, 2024, Aalborg Zoo in Denmark announced that they had euthanized their two female African elephants, Tanja and Mai. Tanja was ill and unresponsive to treatment, but Mai, apart from an arthritic ankle, was otherwise healthy. Yet, the zoo decided to euthanize her as well. In this episode, we discuss the zoo’s justification for this decision and explore the arguments they put forward. This emotional topic weighs heavily on all of us advocating for sanctuary and better lives for captive elephants.

Transcript can be found here.

Email: We’d love to hear from you podcast@globalelephants.org

Who we are: Global Sanctuary for Elephants exists to create vast, safe spaces for captive elephants, where they are able to heal physically and emotionally. There are elephants around the world in need of sanctuary, but too few places exist to be able to care for even a fraction of the elephants. International support is necessary to build sanctuaries for elephants in need of rescue and rehabilitation. Our pilot project is Elephant Sanctuary Brazil, currently home to six female Asian elephants.

Website: https://globalelephants.org/

Donate: Global Sanctuary for Elephants is a U.S. 501(c)3 non-profit. Our work is made possible by donations. You can support our work with a general donation, purchasing items from our wishlist, or adopting one (or all) of our elephants for a year. You can also donate with Crypto!

Thank you for your support!

Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter & YouTube

While we encourage and appreciate you sharing our podcast, please note that…

This presentation is protected by U.S. and International copyright laws. Reproduction and distribution of the presentation or its contents without written permission of the sponsor is prohibited.

© 2023 Global Sanctuary for Elephants

A big Thank You to the talented musicians Mike McGill, Ron McGill, & Sean Rodriquez for composing our podcast jingle.

This week's episode is a little different—and a little shorter! While the podcast team takes a brief break for holidays and work commitments, we didn’t want to leave you hanging. So, enjoy this fun compilation of pre-recording chats, bloopers, and other outtakes, courtesy of our producer Bob. We hope it brings a smile to your face until we’re back with a full episode on November 5th!

It’s finally time to load mother and daughter and literally take them from darkness into light. Scott reveals the final challenges the team faced upon arriving in Mendoza, including incomplete crate training and the need to keep the exact loading date secret, as not all zoo staff were happy to see Pocha and Guillermina leave. The team embarked on their long 5-day journey from Argentina to Brazil. While Pocha and Guille did remarkably well, it was the human elements that posed the greatest challenges, as usual, Scott recalls.

Watch all videos of Pocha and Guillermina’s relocation.

The episode transcript can be found here.

Email: We’d love to hear from you podcast@globalelephants.org

Who we are: Global Sanctuary for Elephants exists to create vast, safe spaces for captive elephants, where they are able to heal physically and emotionally. There are elephants around the world in need of sanctuary, but too few places exist to be able to care for even a fraction of the elephants. International support is necessary to build sanctuaries for elephants in need of rescue and rehabilitation. Our pilot project is Elephant Sanctuary Brazil, currently home to six female Asian elephants.

Website: https://globalelephants.org/

Donate: Global Sanctuary for Elephants is a U.S. 501(c)3 non-profit. Our work is made possible by donations. You can support our work with a general donation, purchasing items from our wishlist, or adopting one (or all) of our elephants for a year. You can also donate with Crypto!

Thank you for your support!

Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter & YouTube

While we encourage and appreciate you sharing our podcast, please note that…

This presentation is protected by U.S. and International copyright laws. Reproduction and distribution of the presentation or its contents without written permission of the sponsor is prohibited.

© 2023 Global Sanctuary for Elephants

A big Thank You to the talented musicians Mike McGill, Ron McGill, & Sean Rodriquez for composing our podcast jingle.

How are elephants trained, and how do you train two elephants who have never been separated before? Scott and Kat share insights into the training of Pocha & Guillermina, working within the limitations of enclosure size, weather, and the resources available at the zoo. Relocations are often far from straightforward, and GSE faces severe challenges as they get entangled in a game of politics and personal greed when export permits are withheld, with third parties suddenly claiming that Pocha and Guillermina should remain in Argentina.

The episode transcript can be found here.

Email: We’d love to hear from you podcast@globalelephants.org

Who we are: Global Sanctuary for Elephants exists to create vast, safe spaces for captive elephants, where they are able to heal physically and emotionally. There are elephants around the world in need of sanctuary, but too few places exist to be able to care for even a fraction of the elephants. International support is necessary to build sanctuaries for elephants in need of rescue and rehabilitation. Our pilot project is Elephant Sanctuary Brazil, currently home to six female Asian elephants.

Website: https://globalelephants.org/

Donate: Global Sanctuary for Elephants is a U.S. 501(c)3 non-profit. Our work is made possible by donations. You can support our work with a general donation, purchasing items from our wishlist, or adopting one (or all) of our elephants for a year. You can also donate with Crypto!

Thank you for your support!

Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter & YouTube

While we encourage and appreciate you sharing our podcast, please note that…

This presentation is protected by U.S. and International copyright laws. Reproduction and distribution of the presentation or its contents without written permission of the sponsor is prohibited.

© 2023 Global Sanctuary for Elephants

A big Thank You to the talented musicians Mike McGill, Ron McGill, & Sean Rodriquez for composing our podcast jingle.