A Day at PAWS ARK 2000

March 23, 2005
A Day at PAWS ARK 2000
Coco Hall


Slow food could take a cue from the elephants. They operate in a slow zone and if you want to align yourself with them, you need to slow down too. I learned this last week after spending the day at PAWS, Performing Animal Welfare Society’s ARK 2000 sanctuary in San Andreas, CA. Kate Danaher and I, representing the Animal Rights Committee of the Marin Peace and Justice Coalition, took advantage of one of PAWS special days for visitors. Like all true sanctuaries, life at PAWS revolves around the animals’ needs and is not generally open to the public.


Once in the elephant zone, not much happens, but time flies. Ed Stewart, co-director of PAWS with Pat Derby, spent hours with us, giving us a humorous and compassionate running commentary about the elephants. From behind a remarkably large-scale fence, we first visited with three Asian elephants, Annie, 51, Minnie, 50, and Rebecca, 44. Tinkerbelle, an Asian released from the San Francisco Zoo two months ago, is almost ready to join them. She is still adjusting and gaining strength in the barn area. Ed says she likes her routine, her foot soaks, and was flapping her ears, which means she is happy. Later we watched Pat hand feed her some fennel bulbs. Pat talks to the elephants with squeaks and trumpeting sounds. To us she said, “ I need to get a whole crate of fennel for her.” I felt so sad seeing Tinkerbelle’s feet, ruined from decades of standing in a zoo exhibit. Rotting feet led to Calle’s death last year. Calle and Tinkerbelle were cellmates at the San Francisco Zoo.


Most captive Asian elephants have arthritis. At PAWS, getting out every day and cruising their 100 acres is healing for them. ARK 2000 is 2300 acres and home to rescued tigers plus a variety of wildlife large and small. Large flocks of birds sang all day. They love the elephant manure, which Ed refers to as “job security”. Annie, Minnie, and Rebecca were busy eating grass but they acknowledged us with squeaks and rumbles. When they drop their trunks on the ground it really does sound like an empty hose. They adore Ed and examine him all over with the tips of their trunks. Rebecca and Minnie are Ringling Brothers survivors where elephants are prevented from forming bonds. In the wild, elephants have very strong social lives and stay with their mother and extended female family for their entire lives. At PAWS, they are finally free to bond with each other which is natural for them. Lying down and sleeping is evidence that an elephant is relaxed and feels secure. As Minnie slept, Annie stood over her, touching her with her trunk and occasionally setting her foot on her back. Ed said that once he was lying in the pasture and one of the elephants came right up next to him and gently stood over him, waiting for him to “wake up”.


Elephants have very sensitive feet so their loss of foot health in captivity is particularly tragic. They listen with their feet by feeling vibrations. Ed said that they could find things such as a bone under the surface by holding a foot over it. Elephants aren’t always slow. Ed described their movement as two speeds, very, very slow and bat out of hell. He has seen them chasing wild turkeys on the property. Once they are upon them though, they don’t hurt them. Captive elephants are known for injuring or killing their caretakers. Ed believes it is done intentionally but only when someone has continually harmed them. Pat Derby originated the training of elephants without the bullhook, a sharp rod that trainers poke into their sensitive skin. It’s obvious that impatient people use this abusive tool in order to force elephants to move with human speed.


African and Asian elephants are separated so they don’t transmit diseases to each other. But we could hear them “talking” to each other. Mara and 71 ages 24, and Lulu, 38, are the Africans at PAWS. Ed and Pat acquired 71 almost 20 years ago. She was part of a cull of so many elephants that they were numbered, thus her name. At the age of 4.5, she weighed only 450 pounds and was dying. But the owner wouldn’t give her away. Ed and Pat raised $20,000 to buy her in one weekend. They nursed her back to health and today she is a big normal elephant with a mind of her own. Circus elephants have had their will broken and tend to be acquiescent. 71 (70 for short) is always just herself. Mara was a “killer” when she came to PAWS. Now she is “miss activity” and wouldn’t hurt a wild turkey. Lulu finally arrived from the San Francisco Zoo only six days before our visit. We witnessed her first foray into the yard near the barn with Mara and 71 watching from behind a fence. It was wonderful to see her explore the tree, walk on thick, green grass, and take a splash in the muddy water hole. Her new mates watched her calmly, a good sign for their new community. In a week, Lulu will be ready to join them.


Pat said, “Ruby (the elephant) went to Knoxville (zoo) and they kept her in a little hallway for six months to try to introduce her. They chained them. Well, once you chain them, they become horrifically aggressive because they feel trapped. So chaining them to introduce them is the worst thing in the world to do. This (at PAWS) is great because Lulu knows they’re there. They know she’s here. We can see if anybody’s going to be aggressive and handle it.” (Ruby was returned to the Los Angeles Zoo because she failed to integrate with the other elephants.)


I watched food preparation for the elephants. They are given buckets of grains, fresh fruits and vegetables including bananas, oranges, whole melons, heads of lettuce.


Several of the keepers from the San Francisco Zoo were at PAWS to visit Lulu when we were there. I spoke to Julie about Calle who was euthanized by the zoo a year ago. She described Calle as very forgiving. If something didn’t work out the first time she “ would act like, okay, let’s just try it again.” She was very calm, quiet and easy to be around. She squeaked a lot and was mischievous. She would try to get away with things but when told no, would back off. The first day Tinkerbelle and Calle were introduced, they went right to each other squeaking and touching. The dominance between them would shift subtly and seemed to be split 50/50. Calle’s favorite foods were corn, melons, anything sweet. She liked all food and was “pretty much a chow hound” and a “carrot junkie”. She accepted whole oranges and pumpkins. Once they gave her a coconut and she tried her darndest to open it up but didn’t succeed. Her favorite toy was a rubber ball with holes in it filled with grain. She would roll it to get the grain out. Calle was playful and so cute and sweet, but not always the brightest star. Julie said,” We called her the blond elephant sometimes.”