Tennessean
October 1, 2007

Original Article

Home to 19 pachyderms shares facts about them

Driving through Tennessee, families may see fields of crops or livestock.

Near Hohenwald, Tenn., there's a special place with fields of elephants.

The Elephant Sanctuary is 65 miles southwest of Nashville. It was founded in 1995 by Carol Buckley and Scott Blais to provide a natural habitat refuge for old, sick and needy Asian elephants — perhaps those no longer needed or valued by circuses or zoos.

The sanctuary is home to 19 elephants on hundreds of acres. The owners would like people to know more about the elephants that live there.

Elephants are members of a mammal group known as pachyderms. Pachyderm is a Greek word that means "thick skin." An elephant's skin may be 1.5 inches thick, but it also is sensitive. Elephants spend part of every day bathing, taking mud baths and throwing dirt on their backs to protect their skin from biting insects and the sun.

Elephants are descendants of ancient mastodons. Only two species of elephants survive today, the Asian elephant and the African elephant. The sanctuary is now home to both species.

All elephants have a long upper lip-nose called a trunk that is used for a variety of purposes. Equally obvious is the fact that elephants are large, the largest land mammals on earth. Elephants grow to their deluxe size by eating only plants. Both species of elephants are very social animals. Elephants are born into herds that are made up of adult females, or cows, and their young calves. Each herd is led by a female called a matriarch. Females stay with the herd throughout their lives. Male calves stay with the mother's herd until they reach puberty at 10 to 14 years. At that point, they leave the herd and join a bachelor group with other young bulls.

Though there are many similarities, Asian and African elephants are separate species. Asian elephants have smaller ears and tend to be smaller overall than their African cousins. Nearly all African elephants grow large, visible incisor teeth called tusks. Among Asians, usually only the males exhibit tusks.

African elephant populations declined rapidly in the 1970s and 1980s as thousands were killed for their ivory tusks. In Asia, people live more closely with the elephant than do people in Africa. The Asian elephant has been worshipped as a god and trained for use in clearing land and logging the forests.

In spite of Asian elephants' usefulness to humans, their numbers also have declined over the past 40 years, primarily because of habitat destruction.

The close association between humans and Asian elephants led to the use of elephants in circuses and other entertainment. There are many performing elephants in North America today, and some are well treated and healthy. Unfortunately, others are not so lucky. Despite its great size, the elephant is a gentle creature and can easily be abused by people.

The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee was established to provide a safe home for some of these elephants. It isn't open to the public, but students can learn more about elephants and the sanctuary at www.elephants.com.

— THE ELEPHANT SANCTUARY