Mara (elephant)


Mara is a female Asian elephant born in captivity in India that spent much of her life in circuses and zoos in Argentina. In May 2020, she was released at Elephant Sanctuary Brazil in Mato Grosso.

Life in captivity

Mara was born in captivity in India, between 1960 and 1970. She was bought by the German company Tierpark Hagenbeck, and after spending some time in a zoo in Germany, she was sold to a circus in Uruguay, and soon afterwards to the Tejedor family who were in the circus business in Argentina. She spent much of her life travelling around the country's circuses, and suffers from a joint deformity from where she was chained on her front leg.
In 1995, after many years travelling around Argentina with several circuses, she ended up in the Buenos Aires Zoo as a judicial deposit when the last circus she worked in, the Rodas Circus, went bankrupt. At the same time, a legislative decree was passed in Argentina banning the exploitation of animals in circuses. Mara, an Indian elephant, was housed alone, alternating outdoor time with two African elephants, the only other elephants at the facility.
With the conversion of Buenos Aires Zoo into an "eco park" in 2016, authorities decided to give up several animals. Mara was accepted by Scott Blais who runs the Global Sanctuary for Elephants in Brazil. In the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, after a 2,700-kilometer journey, and five days, Mara arrived at the 1,133 hectare Matto Grosso Sanctuary in May 2020, and vocalised with another elephant of her species, Rana.
Mara weighs 5,500 kg, is 5 meters long, 2 meters wide and 3 meters high. Her usual diet is composed of pears, watermelons, carrots, alfalfa, bran and supplementary nutrition.

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