Release:
Bo, a 34-year-old male elephant, will become the first resident of Elephant Refuge North America, in Attapulgus, GA, this Thursday, Sept. 23. He is currently scheduled to arrive at noon.
The refuge is the newest of three elephant refuges in the U.S. The 850-acre natural habitat elephant paradise is a project of Elephant Aid International, which was founded by Carol Buckley.
Bo will occupy a seven-acre habitat during his first months at the Refuge. He’ll have free access to pastures, woods, a pond and a new custom-designed, fully automated elephant house. He will eventually occupy a 100-acre habitat
Bo is 10’6” tall and weighs more than 10,000 pounds. The circumference of his front foot is 5’4”.
Because of their strength, bull (male) elephants require much stronger fencing than their female counterparts. The Refuge has constructed 2000 feet of reinforcement fencing for Bo, made of six-inch thick-wall steel pipe, driven four feet into the ground, standing seven-foot-tall and connected with a three-inch steel top rail.
Bo is coming to the Georgia Refuge from the George Carden Circus. He was captive born in Florida and has been part of George Carden’s family for nearly 30 years. Partially due to being castrated when he was five years old, Bo has a very calm temperament. As a result, he doesn’t experience musth, the annual season of elevated levels of testosterone during which bulls become quite dangerous with other male elephants and humans.
Carol Buckley is an internationally recognized authority in the rescue, rehabilitation and welfare of captive-held elephants. Her innovative models for elephant care, training and handling are widely copied and adapted for captive situations in both the U.S. and Asia.
Buckley has experience designing secure habitats for bull elephants in Asia. She designed a 150-acre solar powered chain-free corral at Bannerghatta National Park in India, the first at any zoo in the country. And for the past decade Carol has provided pedicures for more than 100 working elephants, many of them bulls, in Nepal.
To follow Bo’s progress, donate to the Bo’s Home campaign and learn more about Elephant Refuge North America, visit https://elephantaidinternational.org/bo-media-page/.
