Introduction: Elephant Care at The Elephant Sanctuary
Elephant Care refers to the human element of the Sanctuary's innovative form of elephant management. There are currently three completely separate elephant facilities complete with barns and multi-hundred acre habitats which require trained caregivers working in two shifts from 7am until 11pm, seven days per week. The work is extremely labor intensive to support our innovative management philosophy built around healing the physical AND emotional wounds of these rescued needy elephants. As Charles Siebert pointed out in his remarkable New York Times story, the Sanctuary's passive control system is quite similar to the philosophy of human trauma sufferers, and is in fact a form of healing therapy.

Caregiver knowledge and attitude plays a key role in this system. An acute understanding of elephant behavior is essential. We have found that a caregiver, sensitive to elephants and void of any desire to dominate, will be the most effective. The ability to question everything you thought you knew about elephants and their management primes you for success in this system.

From the moment an elephant arrives at the Sanctuary she is managed according to our passive control system, a non-dominance management system developed by the Sanctuary. Traditional elephant management focuses on a keeper's dominance over the elephant. It has been customary for the care and management of elephants to be dictated not by the elephant's nature but by the keeper's resources, which are often limited. We have found that modern facility design and progressive management philosophy can make the need for a keeper's dominance over elephants obsolete.

It is important to note that passive control does not allow a caregiver to dominate an elephant. The success of this system relies on a mutual respect between the caregiver and the elephant. Without the respect and trust of the elephant, even the most skilled caregiver cannot work safely in this system.

Field observation of wild elephants suggests that this species does not operate as a pure hierarchy but rather in an intricate social structure of individuals who relate to one another independent of the herd. Although there is one who leads (matriarch), that leader does so without brute force. Leadership qualities, which include wisdom and experience, are the tools by which the matriarch commands respect and cooperation. Therefore, it is reasonable to believe that elephants in captivity do not need to be dominated to be managed. Instead, they will cooperate with an individual who has proven himself or herself by exhibiting leadership qualities.

The Elephant Sanctuary leads the way in training our caregivers to employ this new and progressive system of elephant management. The Sanctuary elephants have demonstrated that interaction with other elephants and with their human caregivers is necessary for their recovery. These are not 'temporary' interactions but rather long-term relationships based on mutual respect and trust. The elephants who find their way to the Sanctuary are not ours to keep; they have been entrusted to our care. This is why the term "caregiver" is used at The Elephant Sanctuary to describe the person who tends to our elephants' every need. The term caregiver exemplifies our respect and mission to offer every possible kind of care necessary to assist each elephant in her healing process. Caregiver is a term which suggests support and assistance, void of dominance.
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The Challenge
Loves long hours, physical work, anxious to drive a tractor and possesses a good degree of self-awareness. Why are all these important? Individuals applying for a caregiver position must first and foremost understand that they will be dealing with a highly evolved species. The challenge is to find the right people with commitment, compassion, and dedication. The Sanctuary's form of elephant manangement is not only best for the elephants but also very labor intensive. Our caregivers work long hours providing for the elephants. They ensure that diets are custom prepared AND delivered to every single elephant no matter where she is in the habitat. With our founding herd covering the newly-expanded Asian habitat of over 2000 acres, this can be quite a challenge as the elephants can move miles every day.

Our elephant population nearly doubled this year with the rescue of eight former Hawthorn circus elephants. They require extra care and we must increase our staff accordingly. Misty receives monthly health evaluations following her year-long treatment for tuberculosis. Liz and Delhi require daily foot soaks each morning before beginning their day. Over the past two years Jenny was given supplemental feedings throughout the day and night to help maintain her body weight, and while Flora continues to recover from the devastating effect of past traumas, her daily walks in the habitat are continually monitored. Our caregivers take great pride in their work, responding to each elephant's needs no matter how labor intensive or time consuming.
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Recruiting
Who are these caregivers and where do we find them! They are very special people and the right ones usually find us, but we have also begun an aggressive search to widen the choice of candidates. We are working with all of our animal welfare partners as well as our consulting staff, including Dr. Susan Mikota, to broaden the field where we advertise for our caregiver openings.

Educating
Question everything you know, read, and observe.

Once a caregiver is hired he or she is immediately sent a list of recommended reading. Each of these titles was chosen to improve knowledge in several areas including:

• Elephant life in the wild
• Elephants in captivity
• General aninmal welfare

The caregiver's first days and weeks are spent as support staff. This is essential not only to know every detail of every elephants' diet and daily activities, but more importantly to begin to understand how to "be" around the elephants. Caregivers quickly begin to understand what the concept of space means to these elephants, and, as in all relationships, trust is a long-term process.
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Training
Training caregivers at The Elephant Sanctuary begins with teaching the basics of passive control management, which means that caregivers must understand that the elephant's needs always come first, and that the basic elements of passive control management are respected. With the elephants (and, of course, supervisors!) as teachers, these core elements are:

• The importance of wide and diverse space for the elephants
• Ensuring all basic needs—food, water, medical treatment are met in the locations wherever the elephants are
• Ensuring that the elephants have the freedom of choice about the decisions that affect them
• Building a relationship of mutual respect and trust within each elephant's time frame and comfort zone.
  

Our Caregivers Speak
Here are what our current caregivers have to say:

Q: Why were you drawn to the Sanctuary?

"Because it is one of the few animal havens that actually lives up to its standards."

"The Sanctuary is all about the elephants, freedom, space, no dominance ... heaven for elephants and me."

Q: What do you hope to accomplish at the Sanctuary?

"Making sure that the elephants have whatever they need to live as elephants."

"The understanding that when one suffers we all suffer. To help or offer to help one being who is suffering will hopefully lessen suffering in some being somewhere.."

"Through being a caregiver, witnessing how what I do effects the elephants’ social and spiritual growth, I may someday see a similar growth in myself."

Q: What in your background most prepared you for this?

"The development and practice of loving-kindness."

Why An Elephant Care Appeal?
It is simple. We cannot fulfill our mission without trained caregivers in place and the endowment to support them. We may have space in the habitat and space in the barn, but we need these very dedicated and committed caregivers in place. These elephants cannot fully heal without them. We can almost guarantee with more zoos realizing the costs vs. benefits of expanded habitat for their elephants, there will be many more elephants ready for sanctuary soon.

We must be ready for them.

you Can Help!
Click here to make a donation to our Elephant Care program.

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