The Elephant Sanctuary, Hohenwald, Tennessee

December 25, 2003

The weather was beautiful today. Delhi had a special surprise awaiting her when she walked out of her barn this morning. A new corral! The simple joys do not escape Delhi; she ran into the new yard and began to explore every inch of it. She found some old round bales of hay and had a “hay day” playing in them. Her playfulness is infectious.

It did not take long for her to discover the big sycamore tree in the middle of her yard. She scratched every available inch of her body; behind her ears, the inside of her legs and all over her back. Then she reached out to grab a small branch that was eye high and quickly made a snack of it. She cruised around inspecting the fence line, the pasture and the wooded area. Her eyes were sparkling with curiosity and pleasure.

A huge thank you goes to all of Delhi's avid supporters who contributed to her expanded yard. The day she is allowed to go into the habitat with the other elephants cannot come soon enough but until then, her new corral will bring her hours and days of healthy activity.

See Slide Show!

December 19, 2003

Delhi received a toy today addressed specifically to her. It is a ball that when stepped on the air blows out but when the pressure is released it sucks the air back in. No matter how hard she steps on the ball it will not break…perfect for elephants. Delhi is enjoying hours of entertainment with this ball!

See Slide Show

December 12, 2003

Delhi was anxious to get outside again today. There was frost on the ground and a chill in the air so she did not go out until 11 a.m. Prior to that she was pampered with a warm bath, herbal foot soaks and soothing salve applied to her wounds. Once outside she played a little. Not as much as yesterday but enough to bring smiles to her caregivers' faces. She played kickball with Scott and Carol until it was obvious that Delhi was the winner.

What a wonderful spirit!

Many of you have asked why Delhi’s face looks green in places. Elephants love to rub and scratch on things in their barn and outside. The corral pipe in her barn is painted green. Don't worry it is not toxic.Delhi’s face is so light from the natural depigmentation that a little bit of green residue shows up on her face and head looking almost like grass stains.

December 11, 2003

Today was sunny and reasonably warm for December. Delhi could not wait to get outside. She did her granny dash from the barn to the sand pile and then out to the grass. She was full of energy and wanted to play. When Scott approached with an armful of hay she decided that he would make a good playmate. For nearly fifteen minutes she engaged in play behavior and she was not gentle about it. Scott did his best to be a good playmate. The problem was that Delhi is agile and kept throwing her legs out to the side and straight up in the back. Scott would tickle her stomach and then she would wiggle and throw a leg out. If she had another elephant to play with she would be in heaven, but for the time being Scott will simply have to do. He was a good sport about it.

We took blood from Delhi and Tina today for a base line blood panel. This is just another step in determining and monitoring their health. They were awesome. Each stood perfectly still and allowed Scott to insert the needle in a vein in their ear. Delhi has large veins on the front side of her ear which made the procedure easy. Tina's procedure was equally quick and simple thanks to the huge veins on the back side of her ear.

Delhi is a kid at heart. She could not wait to get outside in the mud today. You think you have problems when your neighbors' dogs wanders over into your yard…Delhi has made a muddy mess of the front yard. We really do not care as long as she is having fun! You decide for yourself.

Delhi is very easy going but at first she was quite distrusting of the Sanctuary dogs. Everywhere she looked there was a pesky dog. Not that they harassed her or even paid much attention to her but life on the road for a circus elephant is full of close encounters with the canine variety. Circus elephants quickly learn that it is best to scare off a stray dog before it tries to bite you from behind. The problem for circus elephants is that that they are chained to the ground on two legs, with little room to move. While chained they cannot turn around. When a stray dog approaches from behind, the elephant feels vulnerable. Many times the dog will bark or even act aggressive toward this big creature flailing its legs and tail in the dog’s direction. As result, many circus elephant do not have a good attitude about dogs. Delhi has learned that the Sanctuary dogs are curious but have no ill intent. Once a new elephant gets used to the dogs, they share the same space and, many times, the same grain.

CNN Headline News was here today doing a story about the Sanctuary. Delhi quickly became the focus. She spent the entire day outside. It seemed that all of the dogs and cats, at some time during the day, wandered over to meet her. In an effort to make the uninvited visitors (the dogs and cats) go away, she threw dirt, leaves, and even sticks but nothing worked. The Sanctuary dogs and cats are very comfortable with elephants and simply would not leave. At one point, Carmen, a stray cat turned pet, nearly rubbed up against Delhi’s leg. It is good she did not make contact because Delhi is quick to kick which would have sent the cat flying.

Delhi’s yard is right outside the elephant barn in full view of the offices and keeper area. Many EleCam viewers were fortunate enough to watch Delhi’s great adventure. She pushed up against the upper cable of her corral and found that if she pushed hard enough she could loosen the cable, creating enough slack to step over it. E-mails came flooding in warning of Delhi’s great escape. What the viewers did not realize is that Delhi’s caregivers were watching the whole time. Delhi stepped over the cable, something she would not be able to do if the corral had a top rail. Her agility and curiosity is part of her charm and also the reason a new expanded corral is under construction as we speak. Once on the other side of the corral Delhi played in the trees and tried to intimidate one of the cats. The cat paid no attention. Once the sun started to set, Delhi followed her caregiver to the barn—checking out her new corral on the way.

Dr. Ramsay drove from Knoxville to take radiographs of Delhi’s feet today. These x-rays are an important part of Delhi’s medical evaluation. She was wonderful for her x-rays.

It is our understanding that her feet have not been x-rayed in the past which is unfortunate. The lack of x-rays means we cannot accurately determine at what stage the infection was one year ago, two years ago and so on.

Foot infections are insidious, not only do they eat away at the flesh of the foot but when chronic, the infection actually eat away at the bones in the elephant's foot and leg. This condition is excruciatingly painful and life threatening.

Once the infection reaches the bone there are two options, surgery or antibiotic therapy. If the infection is diagnosed early, the infected digit of the foot can be surgically removed. There has been marginal succes with this approach. If the infection has spread past the first digit the chance of recovery is greatly reduced. Surgery to remove an infected third digit has never proven successful. In that situation drug therapy is usually the option of choice but it is not a cure.

As soon as Dr. Ramsay interprets Delhi's x-rays, his prognosis and recommended treatment will be posted on Delhi's site. In the meantime Delhi is enjoying the good life being pampered, snacking on bamboo and napping on the grass. She is receiving pain killers to block the pain.

The weather has been mild during the day and Delhi has taken full advantage. Her day starts with soothing foot soaks followed by a warm bath. She loves the water and continues to bathe herself from her water bucket for some time after her bath is over. When her barn door is opened she heads right out the door for a generous coating of sand and then makes her way out to her yard. She grazes, throws dirt clots at the rambunctious dogs that wander by, and finally lies down for a nap in the soft grass. She has already established a pattern which is comfortable for her and predictable for her caregivers. At the end of the day, she waits for the sun to set before wandering back to her barn. When she gets back her dinner is laid out in front of her. She loves the grain, carrots and apples, but does not share Tina’s fondness for grapes. For dessert she inhales a healthy stock of Tennessee home-grown bamboo.

Delhi went outside into her yard right away in the morning. She is in quarantine so her yard is separate from the other elephants. She grazed, dug holes in the grass and played. It was wonderful to watch her obviously feeling so comfortable in her new home. At 3pm Sissy and Winkie caught sight of her across the pasture. Sissy made a bee-line in her direction and stood at the fence that divided her from Delhi. Winkie hung back for several minutes. Finally Winkie approached as well. All three stood looking at each other, calm and still.

Delhi then surprised everyone by lying down in the grass for a nap. Sissy and Winkie turned and walked away. In the barn Delhi only lies on her left side but outside she lay on her right side. For an hour and a half she slept as barking dog ran past, tractors drove up and down the road and Sanctuary staff went about their chores. Nothing bothered her.

When she awoke, Tarra noticed her and approached. Again it was a calm and quiet meeting from a distance. Delhi continued to graze until dark and then followed her caregiver back inside her barn. A magical day.

Below are screen captures of Delhi taken by the Ele-cam as she enjoys being outside at the Sanctuary.

Delhi was well rested and relaxed today. She is comfortable doing her foot soaks and taking her pain medication. She wandered outside several times today to check out her surroundings. The next few days are supposed to be warm and sunny. Chances are that she will take advantage of the nice weather
by spending more time out in her yard.

Two of the people who assisted with Delhi's move contacted the Sanctuary today to check on her progress. Delhi is blessed to have lots of people concerned for her welfare.

Delhi was very calm and well rested today. She kept lifting her right front foot which appears to be causing her some pain. Her vet recommended we start her on a pain killer. Delhi is not very trusting of things like medication hidden inside an apple. But she surprised us when after examining the medication-laced fruit thoroughly, she popped it into her mouth. She did this with four consecutive apples, receiving her full dose of pain reliever.

Her foot soaks were uneventful. She was hesitant at first and a little resistant to put her feet in the buckets but soon she realized the formula was quite soothing. While in her soaks the phone rang; it was the media calling for Delhi. WSMV-TV arrived an hour later to do a story about Delhi's rescue which aired on the nightly news.

Delhi is calm and attentive. Her feet are severely damaged by infection and chemical burns. She has areas of overgrown skin over much of her body, especially covering her back legs. Her front feet are swollen and painful. Both elbows are infected. Her trunk is not completely functional—the condition is referred to as a "partially paralyzed trunk". She has learned to live with this handicap and never misses a drop of water when taking a drink.

Delhi was fast asleep when her caregiver came to feed her at 10:30 pm.. She slept until 3 am. She appeared pleased to get an early morning snack of produce, grain, fresh hay and water before returning to sleep.

The quarantine barn had not been used as such since 1999. Its proximity to the new elephant barn made it easy for Scott to convert it into a shop. Clearing it out was a huge project which took two full days. After moving everything out of the barn, Scott returned the barn to its former function. He rewired and re-plumbed, installed new cabinets, a sink and a new hot water heater. He finally finished rewiring and installing new plumbing at 3am. After catching only a couple hours of sleep the call came. It was 6am CT and Delhi was at the Sanctuary gate. The dawn was breaking and the sky was glowing with a delicate hint of pink.

Delhi is a veteran traveler and made the trip without a problem. But she was in no hurry to leave the trailer. After little more than an hour she finally stepped out of the trailer and down on the pad in front of her new barn. Winkie and Sissy watched from the adjacent barn with intense curiosity. This barn will be Delhi's home for the duration of her quarantine period after which time she will move permanently into the main barn with all of the other elephants.

At 10 am, the USDA entered the property of John Cuneo, owner of Hawthorn Corporation, to confiscate Delhi. Three veteran elephant handlers were brought in by the agency to ensure that Delhi was safely loaded into the transport trailer supplied by the Elephant Sanctuary. Two elephant handlers actively handled Delhi while the third handler was available as back up. Everyone—handlers, vets, agency officials and others, all worked together in a successful effort to help Delhi. The two handlers that were responsible for physically moving Delhi did a skillful job making sure that Delhi was not traumatized during what could have been a very stressful situation. Delhi’s owner was on grounds but would not allow keepers familiar with Delhi to assist with her loading. After recognizing that Delhi was resistant to stepping up into the trailer, Dr. Ramsay, who had been brought in by USDA as a consultant, suggested parking the trailer in a location where there was a slight ditch which would lower the back of the trailer, making it easier for Delhi to enter the trailer. Delhi’s team which included three elephant handlers, vets and USDA officials, determined it would be most humane to tether Delhi by one leg to prevent her from retreating. This worked like a charm. At no time was Delhi pulled or forced into the trailer; she was simply encouraged and she responded. At 2:45pm CT,Delhi left the Hawthorn Corporation property and set off for her journey to the Elephant Sanctuary. Many thanks go to the kind and compassionate handlers, vets and officials who participated in Delhi’s move.

While staff painted some newly-welded pipe in the elephant trailer, Scott replaced all of the vitals which had been taken out of the trailer during the renovations. The water tank was filled and the trailer was stocked with hay and other essentials; packed ready to go.

At the same time the crew from Maury Fence Builders tore down the shop and moved the contents to a building off grounds.

Carol sent off the TWRA permit application for Delhi and made arrangements for the State veterinarians to inspect prior to Delhi’s arrival.

Angie arrived at the Sanctuary to pick up the trailer at around 5pm. She was given a refresher course on the trailer, the gates, the winch and her assignment. At 6:30pm she left on her way to Chicago and Delhi with explicit instructions not to speak to anyone about the operation. She arrived in Antioch, IL, late Friday afternoon.

Scott and crew worked long into the night moving the remainder of his shop out of quarantine barn.

The Sanctuary agreed to take Delhi and to send our custom built elephant trailer to transport her to the Sanctuary. We would provide the trailer and the driver and rent the tractor.

By 4pm a rental tractor had still not been located. Due to the short notice, Mike Knowles, our seasoned driver was not available to drive but luckily Angie Lambert, another professional driver who helped move Tina, was available.

At 4:30pm Wednesday a trailer was secured. Everything fell into place.

Scott began the process of tearing down the shop that had been set up in the quarantine barn. A major project.

Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2003
The elephant specialist from USDA contacted the Sanctuary to inquire if we were willing to take Delhi, a 50+ year-old-Asian elephant/circus performer owned by John Cuneo/Hawthorn Corporation.