Elephant refuge starts anew

Photo by: Josh Anderson

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Photo

This Dec. 22, 2010 photo shows Elephant Sanctuary co-founder Scott Blais visiting with Shirley, one of the older elephants at the facility in Hohenwald, Tenn. An unexpected management change and a lawsuit might give the world a better glimpse of the refuge for elephants that have spent much of their lives in zoos and circuses.

Associated Press

HOHENWALD, Tenn.

Nestled on a secluded tract in the wooded hills of rural Tennessee is a sight that would likely startle an outsider, if outsiders were permitted to see it: the nation’s largest sanctuary for old, sick and rescued elephants.

For the past 15 years, elephants who had spent lifetimes in zoos and circuses have found a place to retire, rest and roam, far from noisy audiences and free from cramped quarters.

Now, after an unexpected management change and a lawsuit filed by one of the original founders last year, their place of refuge is undergoing changes that may allow the world a better glimpse of their lives.

“The sanctuary is and has always been about far more than just the people who work in it,” said Rob Atkinson, the new CEO who arrived in Tennessee late last year. “It’s about the elephants.”

In 1995, two former elephant trainers, Carol Buckley and Scott Blais, started the sanctuary near Hohenwald, Tenn., about 85 miles southwest of Nashville, in part because Tennessee’s temperate climate and vegetation made it a good home for African and Asian elephants.

Buckley ran the place from the beginning, but later became at odds with the board of directors over money matters. She was fired in March.

Atkinson said he hasn’t been involved with the lawsuit, nor is he worried that Buckley’s firing will hurt support for the sanctuary.