The First Asian Elephants Have Arrived at White Oak Conservation

White Oak Conservation
Press Release
May 4, 2021

We are excited to announce that the first group of Asian elephants have arrived at White Oak and are settling into their new home!

Twelve female elephants, ranging from 8 to 38 years old, were moved 200 miles in customized trucks to White Oak from their previous facility in Polk County, FL.

Upon arrival, they were released into two large paddocks to acclimate, adjacent to a specially designed, climate-controlled barn where veterinarians and specialists monitored their health and well-being. The elephants have now ventured out of the paddocks into pine forests with ponds, wetlands, and open grasslands.

The area the elephants now inhabit is large enough that the elephants have various habitats and food plant species available to them. They can choose to stay near the barn and their human caregivers, or wander in the woods, wallow in the mud, and swim in the pond.

White Oak Conservation’s philosophy is to accommodate animals’ natural behavior and social bonds as closely as possible so family groups will be together. This elephant herd has been socialized together for the past several months and includes two sets of full sisters and numerous half-sisters.

We are so excited to share this news with our White Oak friends first. Thank you all for your support. We could not have done this without you!

To learn more in our press release, click here.

Only 30,000 to 50,000 Asian elephants remain in the wild in less than 15% of their historic range.

Where they do survive, they continue to be threatened by habitat degradation and fragmentation, conflict with humans and poaching.

White Oak Conservation continues to conduct limited scheduled tours due to the pandemic, but visitors cannot currently visit the elephants while they acclimate and the construction of additional habitats continues.

To visit White Oak Conservation and see our more than 30 other species through a tour, which you can schedule by calling 904-225-3396.

If you would like to contribute to our elephant conservation work, you can do so here, or by calling 904-225-3383 or emailing bcarvalho@white-oak.org.

“We are thrilled to give these elephants a place to wander and explore,” said Mark and Kimbra Walter. “We are working to protect wild animals in their native habitats. But for these elephants that can’t be released, we are pleased to give them a place where they can live comfortably for the rest of their lives.”