Representative image: Carol Buckley founded an elephant sanctuary in Tennessee in 1995, providing a refuge for elephants including Tarra, the Asian elephant she had worked with for years | Wikimedia Commons
The year was 1994 when she bought 112 acres in Hohenwald, Tennessee, to give Tarra, the elephant she had cared for since the 1970s, a place to retire from performing. The property became the foundation of The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee, which opened in 1995 and has since expanded to 3,060 acres, and now provides care for Asian and African elephants with protected habitats and veterinary facilities. Buckley and Tarra met in 1974, when she was studying exotic animal management and the young elephant was being used as a mascot at a tire dealership in California. The Tennessee Court of Appeals later recorded that Buckley purchased the property in the fall of 1994 and established the sanctuary as a nonprofit organisation around December that year. The Elephant Sanctuary’s current facilities cover 3,060 acres in Hohenwald, about 85 miles southwest of Nashville, and its habitats include wooded areas, pastures, ponds and heated barns. The case went through multiple trials and appeals before the Tennessee Court of Appeals ruled in June 2021 that the trial court had wrongly granted the sanctuary a new trial. Tarra’s custody was awarded to Buckley, and in November 2021, Tarra left the Tennessee refuge and moved to Georgia to live under Buckley’s care. The sanctuary confirmed her departure after more than 26 years there. The refuge that was established by Buckley continued operating after Tarra left; it has provided care to dozens of elephants since 1995 and now accommodates both Asian and African elephants. The expansion from 112 acres to more than 3,000 acres took place over three decades, and the property that Buckley bought for one elephant became a much larger refuge for elephants that were retired from performance and exhibition, although Tarra herself now lives elsewhere.
The organisation says that its purpose is to provide lifelong care and support elephant welfare and conservation. Carol Buckley is an elephant caregiver who dedicated a large part of her life to the physical care of captive elephants. Buckley became Tarra’s caregiver, and later her owner, and the pair travelled across the United States and abroad for about two decades, with appearances in circuses, zoos, amusement parks and television productions. Tara grew older, and Buckley began to look for an alternative to a life that was filled with performances and public exhibitions, which led to the decision to buy land in Tennessee. Tarra became the first elephant at the refuge The refuge was built around the idea that elephants needed a different setting in retirement after years of entertainment, and rather than displaying them publicly, the sanctuary gave them access to open habitats and specialised care. Elephants receive individual veterinary and husbandry care, and the sanctuary uses a protected-contact management system that is based on positive reinforcement. Tarra also became known for her friendship with Bella, a stray dog that lived at the sanctuary, and the two spent years together, eating, sleeping and exploring the habitat. Their companionship drew widespread attention after videos of them circulated online. Buckley with Tarra and Winkie | Wikimedia Commons A legal dispute ended Tarra’s time in Tennessee Buckley was removed from day-to-day responsibility for the elephants by the board, which is when her relationship with the sanctuary changed, and a long legal dispute followed over Tarra’s ownership. The sanctuary’s habitats are closed to public visits, but live cameras and an educational centre in Hohenwald offer ways for people to learn about its work. You use AI every day. Now get your AI Quotient. Take the AIQ test.
