ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mark Stratton is a travel writer, environmental journalist, photographer and radio broadcaster for BBC Radio 4 and BBC World Service. His work has taken him to more than 140 countries. Visit markstrattontravels.com
GANDHI, A 52-YEAR-OLD ASIAN elephant, is picking at windfall apples when an enclosure. Te's Woexty, the farm cat. Ghandi's ears flare and she swivels, chasing the fleeing feline towards her heated barn. She plunges indoors and doesn't reappear, likely preferring the warmth to the chill of an autumn day in southern France.
Ghandi was the first elephant to take up residence here at Elephant Haven, a sanctuary co-founded by ex-zookeeper Sofie Goetghebeur and Tony Verlust in 2016. It's the largest elephant sanctuary in western Europe, comprising 29ha of beautiful mixed woodland and ponds. Ghandi arrived here in October 2021 from a cash-strapped Brittany Zoo. She had been spirited away from her mother, likely in Thailand, when a baby, in 1973, and has spent her entire life in captivity. “Before being rescued, Gandhi stood around with little energy. Now look at her. She has new life,” says Goetghebeur.
ELEPHANT HAVEN REPRESENTS a glittering template of what life in captivity could look like for elephants at a time when we are realising that these intelligent and sentient creatures do not belong in zoos and circuses. Many European countries - France being the latest - have banned live animal performances, while zoos from Mendoza to Buenos Aires are releasing individual elephants to specialised sanctuaries. Rumours even circulated in summer 2021 that the UK, which holds 51 elephants, would ban zoo captivity from 2022, though no legislation has been forthcoming yet.
This story is from the April 2022 edition of BBC Wildlife.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the April 2022 edition of BBC Wildlife.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
SNAP-CHAT
Justin Gilligan on giant spider crabs and holding hands with an octopus
STEPPE CHANGE
Herds of saiga have returned to Kazakhstan, but there's a fine balance to tread
TREES FOR LIFE
Community is at the heart of conservation in the tropical forests of southern Belize
WHEN DOVES CRY
Turtle doves are now the UK's fastest declining bird species, but the RSPB is on a mission to save them
SURVIVAL OF THE CUTEST
We can't help being drawn to cute creatures, but our aesthetic preferences both help and hinder conservation
LIGHT ON THE NORTH
Spectacular images of Arctic foxes, reindeer and musk oxen reveal the wild beauty and diversity of Scandinavia
ROLLING IN THE DEEP
The super-sized crustacean that lives in the deepest, darkest ocean
LET'S GET TOGETHER
Clay licks deep in the Amazon explode in a riot of colour, with macaws the stars of the show
FEMALE OF THE SPECIES
To sponge or not to sponge? That is the question for the bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops aduncus) living in Shark Bay, Western Australia.
7 nature encounters for the month ahead
WITH NATURALIST AND AUTHOR BEN HOARE