After four decades in a zoo, Sandro the elephant explores a sanctuary

Sandro, an Asian elephant who spent 44 years at a zoo in Brazil, has begun exploring his new sanctuary home, tossing earth over his body and making mud to spread across his skin.

He arrived at Santuário de Elefantes Brasil in Chapada dos Guimarães, in the state of Mato Grosso, on 18 September after a roughly 1,600-kilometre journey from Sorocaba. When his transport crate opened, he stepped out voluntarily in less than a minute. By the following morning, he was walking through vegetation and eating leaves from trees.

These everyday elephant behaviours serve important purposes. Covering themselves in earth and mud helps elephants control their temperature and protect their skin. Sandro will have access to a roughly four-hectare habitat with forest and lakes, offering more space and variety than his former enclosure.

The sanctuary’s first male resident will live separately from its six female Asian elephants. They will be able to see, smell and hear one another, but the sanctuary does not intend to promote breeding.

His adjustment is still beginning. Caregivers will monitor him daily and gradually build trust to support health checks without force. The aim is to give him increasing freedom to choose where to walk and what to explore, at his own pace.