The 36-year-old Elephant Pupy of African origin, arrived in Brazil on Friday (18), after five days of travel via truck. The animal was in the EcoParque de Buenos Aires, Argentina, since 1993, and now has reached its new home at the Brazilian Elephant Sanctuary (SEB), located at Chapada dos Guimarães, in Mato Grosso. There, the animal will live again in a natural and free environment, after years of living in the Argentine zoo, which was recently disabled.
Pupy took nine hours to leave the box where he was transported and is now in the space for her. It is noteworthy that this is the first African elephant received in the SEB.
The displacement of the animal towards Brazil began last Monday (14). With the help of a crane, it was placed inside a box positioned on a truck and moved by 2,690 kilometers from the Argentine capital to Chapada dos Guimarães.
According to the sanctuary, the animal was not transported by plane because it would demand a very large aircraft, and the airport closer to the new Pupy home cannot accommodate an aircraft of the appropriate size for the mission. “In addition, takeoff and landing can be stressful to the elephant. The ground trip, with police escort, is safer and more quiet,” the SEB said.
The situation of the elephant has been updated on the social networks of the Brazil Elephant Sanctuary. In a video posted on the SEB profile, it was informed that Pupy is being accompanied by a biologist, who conducts an animal behavior study, and veterinarians, responsible for his care.
It will be in an outdoor area, for now without the company of the other SEB elephants, as African and Asian elephants do not live in nature. Soon, the space hopes to receive Kenya, another African elephant that is in Argentina and will be with Pupy.
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Until Kenya’s arrival, Pupy will be alone and should not share the same spaces with other animals. But in the future, she can see and communicate with the other companions if she wishes, the sanctuary said.
Today, the space houses five other elephants, all originating from Asia – Maia, Rana, Guillermina, Bambi and Mara. The latter lived a journey similar to Pupy, coming out of the same echo of Argentina, where he was since 1995, and arriving in Brazil in May 2020.
Pupy’s life
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Born in the 1980s at Kruger National Park in South Africa, Puppy was in 1993, about five years old, to Argentina, where he lived at the Hindu Temple of Elephant Temple Zoo in downtown Buenos Aires.
The site was called the EcoParque de Buenos Aires and, after 120 years serving as room to house elephants and other captive animals, was disabled to become a center of native wildlife conservation.
Since 2016, EcoParque has relocated its animals, such as chimpanzees, orangutings and bears, in reserves and shrines. The goal is to prioritize the well-being of animals, as they can live in places suitable for their needs, and focus on the conservation of native species. More than 1,000 animals have already been relocated and Pupy is the 1.009 on the list.
