Cynthia Moss Visits The Elephant Sanctuary

For more than three decades Cynthia Moss has been a champion for African elephants, conducting extensive studies of the species in Amboseli National Park. Her research has affected generations of elephants and humans alike. Cynthia’s many books on the subject, extensive speaking engagements, and contribution to the production of documentaries has literally brought the wild elephants of African right into our living rooms.

November 2004, we were honored to welcome Cynthia to The Elephant Sanctuary. With such a demand on her time, we felt incredibly privileged to be included in Cynthia’s itinerary. Betsy Swart, executive director of the Amboseli Elephant Conservation Trust, is credited with manipulating Cynthia’s tour schedule to include a detour to the middle-of-nowhere Hohenwald, Tennessee.

Cynthia was the guest of honor at an invitation only gathering at the Zeitgeist Gallery in Nashville where she was greeted by an intimate group of enthusiastic people who respect her work tremendously. The following day it was our pleasure to tour Cynthia, via a four-wheeler, through the Sanctuary habitat in search of resident elephants. Cynthia was able to see several of the elephants as they foraged through the woods and others as they grazed the pastures.

In response to her visit to the nation’s first natural habitat for elephants, Cynthia wrote:

Those of us who work for the conservation and welfare of wild elephants often feel that we’re fighting a losing battle. It’s definitely a never-ending battle in which we win some skirmishes but seem to lose a lot more. There are no happy endings in conservation, only sometimes positive outcomes for holding actions. Visiting The Elephant Sanctuary was such a joyful occasion for me. Here were elephant stories with happy endings. Each of those elephants had been brutally taken from the wild, had lived anything from boring and lonely to horrendous lives, and now they were in the best possible conditions a captive elephant could be. It made me happy to know they would live out their last days with kind and caring people, other elephant companions, space to roam, things to do, and more than enough food to eat.

The Sanctuary is grateful for the tireless work done by Cynthia and her group to further the knowledge of wild elephants and her efforts to protect their lives and their families.

Recently, a group of elephant researchers working together to study elephants and promote their conservation and welfare prepared a circus position statement. The researchers whose combined experience represents over 200 years of work with free-ranging, wild African elephants include Cynthia Moss, Ian Douglas-Hamilton, and Joyce H. Poole. The Elephant Sanctuary whole-heartedly supports this position statement.

Visit the website and read the statement.