Corona Daily 362: Mara’s Story: Part Final

A suggestion, even the thought, of postponing Mara’s travel to a later time, was terrifying for Thomas Sciolla.

Mara needed to travel 2700 km over a week. Elephants can’t be anesthetized for that long. For months, Mara was being trained to spend days in the metal container that would carry her. The team had worked hard to make sure she remains awake and calm in the container, can live, eat, rest and play and not feel enclosed. The container had a large sustaining harness for Mara to rest. She had started entering the box on her own. This long training would be wasted if the trip was postponed.

Water samples were taken from her trunk to see if she suffered from any infections such as tuberculosis. She had patiently presented her front feet, then back feet, then each ear to her trainers who had drawn blood from those parts for analysis. Permits from both countries were based on the results.

Mr Sciolla spent a month coordinating with multiple ministries and two national governments. The desperation in his voice finally paid off. In the second week of May, the elephant would make a journey that human beings were prohibited from making.

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On 9 May, employees of the Buenos Aires zoo witnessed a three hour heavyweight operation. Mara entered her metal container, heavier than her because a crane had to lift it. The crane placed it on a truck. The special truck left with three escort vehicles. Mara’s container had a stock of pears, watermelons, carrots, alfalfa and bran among other things.

‘We are going to miss Mara very much, but we know the Brazilian sanctuary is the best destination for her.’ Said Eduardo Macchinvalli, the environment secretary.

Mara travelled mostly awake, pampered by her caretakers on the journey. They ensured she was well hydrated and calm. Fifteen people with little sleep, the truck, and the escorting vehicles travelled for 109 hours, with only two nights for the people to rest in hotels.

Argentina and Brazil had to relax their strict border controls. Mara and four people from Argentina were allowed to cross the border as a special case. The last forty mile road to the sanctuary was rough. In another major operation, the box was lifted by another crane and moved to a Brazilian truck. Mara finally arrived at the sanctuary that is 1100 hectares in size, full of open spaces, grass and trees.

She voluntarily descended from the box, and walked a little shyly for the first time through a natural environment. The first thing she did was to take a sand shower with her trunk, and then a long nap.

“The long and risky journey and preparing for it was all worth it when you see that an animal that has spent most of her life in an unnatural way, connecting with her essence and what she is. For her, it took a long time.” Said Thomas Sciolla.

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Mara is very tactile, she likes to feel by touch. In the sanctuary, she touches grass, trees with her trunk first. When she saw another Asian elephant, Rana, she lifted her front leg to touch her. Then she squealed with joy. Rana was also rescued from a circus. Now Mara and Rana go for walks together. The sanctuary people wonder if Rana was also born in India, and whether they knew each other some fifty years ago.

Another 25 years of free living in the spacious Brazilian sanctuary would at least partially compensate for Mara’s half century in captivity.

Ravi