The picture above is a little ahead of reality, but only just: the Pangea Elephant Sanctuary, opening early next year in the Alentejo region has booked its first resident, an elderly elephant that has spent 40 years in various Belgian zoos.
The sanctuary, under construction by Pangea, a UK-registered non-profit, covers about a thousand acres and will have room for up to 30 elephants. The elephants “have never had contact with nature,” according to Pangea’s consultants, and will need to “relearn to use nature and socialize” with others.
The sanctuary will not be open to the public for visits, but will have programs for local schools and will have a ‘discovery center.’ He added that “We will have protocols with the scientific community,” within which “studies and scientific projects will be carried out, providing fundamental information for the development of knowledge about elephant welfare.”
