As you've probably noticed, until now our website has concerned itself primarily with all things "Steppenwolf". But many of you are also aware that I greatly admire the daily heroes amongst us who need our help in order to continue their good works. With that in mind I would like to make you aware of
a very special place Jutta, Shawn and I had the pleasure of visiting recently, namely the Elephant Sanctuary in Hohenwald Tennessee. You may have seen the Peter Jennings / ABC News piece on the Sanctuary some weeks ago or perhaps viewed the segment in the "Urban Elephant" National Geographic program on PBS which documented the arrival of one of "the girls" at the Sanctuary after years of living alone in a small Zoo. Any animal lover knows that elephants are highly intelligent and live in groups or herds lead by a matriarch and have complex and close relationships. Many Zoos and certainly Circuses are not capable of providing these creatures with an environment resembling anything close to their natural habitat and often subject these animals to a life of isolation and/or work that can result in injuries and errant behavior.
The Sanctuary provides lots of space for those elephants lucky enough to have been rescued. There they can live out their remaining years together as a group, unfettered by humans (the Sanctuary is not open to the public) free to roam acres and acres of the hills of Tennessee. Carol and Scott who run the place are trying to buy more land so that in future even more Elephants can find a home there. I'm sure you will be fascinated by their work if you visit their site at elephants.com where you can also see "the girls" in action via the
"Elecam". Spread the word and let's contribute a ducat or two and show the girls our better side...Lord knows too many of them have seen our less than admirable one. Stay wild...
JK
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