Kenya and Pupy's First Meeting

Many of you have been intently watching every new development with Kenya and Pupy as they meet their new challenges with wonder, curious as to how each would react to meeting the other. Because Kenya’s trip home was so long and she was fairly exhausted, she let us know that initially she needed to rest and get used to all of the things she was being introduced to before meeting someone new. She’s spent the last couple of days getting acclimated to sanctuary life in easy-to-manage bits.

Both African elephants expressed curiosity about each other when Kenya was in the barn, though Pupy almost seemed to be more interested when Kenya was being more subdued. This morning, they were both in easygoing moods and it seemed like an appropriate time to begin introductions. Kenya was in Yard 1 near the barn and Pupy was in Yard 2, and they came together across a common fence line. There was an immediate interest on both parts, but they expressed themselves differently.

As usual, Kenya’s big energy made itself known and Pupy came to the meeting with her own sense of confidence. Kenya showed a little dominance and that seemed to slightly intimidate Pupy. Pupy walked away and about a minute afterward Kenya started rumbling. Scott explained to Kenya that if she wants to have a soft interaction with another elephant, she’d have to approach her in a gentler way. Kenya seems to want an interaction with Pupy but it doesn’t appear that she completely understands how to yet. They had another interaction and Kenya actually adopted a more submissive demeanor, doing her African elephant foot taps and trunk pops. Pupy walked a few steps further but stopped and turned toward Kenya. Pupy is learning that an important part of sanctuary is having the ability to “choose your own adventure,” as they say, and that includes making her own decisions about where to be, when, and with whom.

Our job at this point in the introduction process is to encourage the two ladies while also providing safe spaces for them. Introductions among Asian elephants tend to be more gentle than those of African elephants. That’s not to say that African elephants are always boisterous, but they often approach situations with more emotionality than Asian elephants do. While the Asian elephants might meet each other and exchange gentle touches, African elephants tend to respond to situations quickly and are demonstrative with their feelings. There is often some trunk wrestling, sparring, or a bit of head pushing. We reassured Pupy that she could be brave while asking Kenya to embrace the softer side of her personality. There was a lot of watching each other for a while, glancing at each other, staying relatively close. Overall, it was a positive interaction for both girls. No one stayed in a scared or submissive spot or went to an overly dominant place. They aren’t hyper-focused on each other, which is a good place for them to be, emotionally. And unlike the first time when Kenya got really vocal and silly, Pupy did not go to the other end of the habitat, she stayed within seeing distance. It will be their choice as to whether they want a relationship with each other, and what that timeline looks like, but these early first moments are important to learning that their choices matter.