African elephant Flora, known for her independence and tendency to roam the far reaches of her habitat for days at a time, began venturing into The Sanctuary’s Willow Habitat (formerly known as the Elephant Health Care Center) for the very first time this year!
Though the habitat isn’t new to other elephants at The Sanctuary, it was a brand-new discovery for Flora—proof that with over 3,000 acres, even longtime residents continue to uncover unexplored corners of The Sanctuary.
Flora has fully embraced the opportunity to explore the area this spring and summer, making her way through the entire habitat—smelling trees previously debarked by other elephants, inspecting gates and barn entrances, and then beginning to debark tall pine trees herself. Care Staff witnessed her skillfully using her trunk to catch bits of bark as she stripped the tree—giving us an up-close look at both her foraging technique and one of the reasons her tusks are so short.
Thanks to the continued development of corridors and habitat connectors, elephants like Flora have access to even more space and new social opportunities. And even after many years at Sanctuary, there is always something new to discover.