The Elephant Sanctuary, Hohenwald, Tennessee

Elefriends

They deliver the goods! Valued Volunteers

For the past two years Linda Moore and her father, Robert Stratton, have been picking up grain and produce for the elephants at The Elephant Sanctuary. Linda and Bob are valued volunteers whose generous assistance helps things run smoothly at the Sanctuary.

Linda makes the bi-monthly trip to Centerville to pick up hundreds of pounds of assorted grains. Linda must travel to Centerville because the grain needed for the elephants is not available in Hohenwald.

Bob makes several trips each week to Morrow's and Duncan's Produce to pick up produce. Each elephant eats 20 - 30 pounds of produce each day, so being the Sanctuary's produce man keeps him very busy.

Linda and Bob are good neighbors, kind friends, and most definitely ELEFRIENDS.

A Bamboo Feast
Herman and Wilma Mitchell of Hohenwald donated a pile of healthy, fresh cut bamboo as a Spring treat for the elephants at The Elephant Sanctuary.

When it came time for Mike and Jane Mitchell of Memphis to trim the bamboo that was taking over their property, Mike's parents, Herman and Wilma Mitchell, reminded them that elephants love bamboo. In the wild, bamboo is a staple of the Asian elephant diet. Asian elephants consume 150 pounds of vegetation each day, and bamboo makes up a large portion of that vegetation.

Buddy Hensley of Hohenwald was kind enough to lend his trailer so that Herman and Wilma Mitchell could transport the bamboo from Memphis and deliver it to the Sanctuary. The elephants loved the fresh cut bamboo and finished off the whole pile in less than two days.

City of Hohenwald Provides Water Meters

Scott Blais and Wayne Dye Install Water Meters at the Sanctuary

What would a 7000-pound pachyderm need with a water meter? Measure the amount of water they drink, of course!

Water is important to all living creatures. When we are sick, keeping track of the amount of liquids we drink becomes critical. At The Elephant Sanctuary, sick elephants come here to recover from years of neglect and abuse in captivity. It is important that their caretakers are aware of exactly how much water each elephant drinks each day. The average amount of water a healthy adult elephant drinks each day is 30 - 50 gallons. If an elephant is drinking less, caretakers know there is a problem.

Wild and exotic animals are survivors. One of their survival tactics is not to show they are ill. Where it is important in the wild to not show any weakness, in captivity it makes an elephant caretaker's job that much more of a challenge.

By simply monitoring each elephant's daily water consumption, caretakers can catch a problem before it becomes critical.

The city of Hohenwald, thanks to Mayor Guy Nicholson, has donated 6 water meters. These meters will be installed in the Sanctuary's new elephant barn. They will be attached to automatic waterers in each stall and record a daily reading of the water used. This will allow our elephant caretakers to monitor water consumption and better care for our elephants.

Thank you, Mayor Nicholson and the City of Hohenwald.

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