ATTAPULGUS- The clouds are parting over the woods of Attapulgus, Georgia, as the rain slowly clears. Cows moo in nearby fields, which neighbor the rolling acres belonging to Mundi, the 41 year-old African savanna elephant rescued from a Puerto Rican zoo.  

Mundi was transported to Jacksonville, Florida last week in a custom-built transport crate following the U.S. Department of Justice’s order to close the Juan A. Rivero Zoo in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico. There, she had spent 35 years in a 15,000 square- foot enclosed exhibit. 

Mundi has had a long life, one beginning with the sorrow of being orphaned due to culling operations by the Zimbabwe government. Two years later, Nautilus exercise equipment owner Arthur Jones orchestrated an elephant rescue mission which brought Mundi to America, where she would later be sold to the Puerto Rican zoo. 

Despite her unstable life, a damaged tusk and partial blindness, Mundi survived. The 8,000-pound elephant now resides peacefully on a 850-acre private property owned by Elephant Aid International, which was founded by Carol Buckley. EAI is the organization that helped bring Mundi and fellow rescue elephants to Georgia and continues to fund their care. 

The land holds pine tree forests, hills, lakes and more, and is currently home to two Asian elephants Bo and Tarra. It is not open to the public.  

Buckley currently cares for the elephants on this land and is helping to slowly readjust Mundi to her new surroundings. She is currently in a smaller area, but Buckley plans on eventually releasing her into the full enclosure.  

“They’re fascinating and we’re only starting to learn, in captivity, what an elephant is,” Buckley said, referring to an elephant’s psychological and emotional behavior in captivity. 

On caring for the elephants, Buckley said it’s good to “develop a relationship where you’re providing something without trying to control the animal—without dominating the animal.” She currently feeds the animals hundreds of pounds of hay everyday, along with fresh fruits and vegetables. 

The money she raises with EAI funds their vitamins and necessary nutritional supplements, along with their vet care, which totals nearly $145,000 per year/per elephant. 

Buckley is passionate about the elephants’ rehabilitation, especially socially. “For the longest time in zoos, they were housed alone and no one realized the damage that was doing for them. Now, we’re seeing progress, because the Association of Zoos requires that you have more than one elephant together,” she said. 

“They need more space. They need to be with others of their own kind. And they need to give them autonomy—just like us, as an adult,” Buckley continued. 

Buckley, along with other volunteers at EAI and at her facility, are doing just that: giving the elephants autonomy. Mundi has been given a chance at a new, more social life in South Georgia that will allow her to thrive with her fellow rescue elephants.