In this episode, we explore one of the most profound qualities we see and admire in elephants: their ability to grieve.

Kat and Scott share stories from decades of working with captive elephants, revealing that grief is not just a moment, but a process. For some elephants in captivity, especially those encountering loss for the first time, this process may need to be learned or reawakened. Yet once it surfaces, it appears deeply instinctive and becomes part of who they are.

We also examine the growing conversation around elephant emotional intelligence and the gap that still exists between what we are beginning to understand and how elephants are treated in many captive environments.

While this is a more somber topic, it also offers something hopeful, a reminder that in witnessing elephants, we may find a way back to our own capacity for connection, compassion, and love.

📅 SAVE THE DATE: Our online auction Trunks & Treasures runs June 12–20, 2026. Join us to support the elephants’ medical care and bid on incredible items, including a trip for two to Elephant Sanctuary Brazil!

The episode transcript can be found here.

Email: We’d love to hear from you podcast@globalelephants.org

Who we are: Global Sanctuary for Elephants exists to create vast, safe spaces for captive elephants, where they are able to heal physically and emotionally. There are elephants around the world in need of sanctuary, but too few places exist to be able to care for even a fraction of the elephants. International support is necessary to build sanctuaries for elephants in need of rescue and rehabilitation. Our pilot project is Elephant Sanctuary Brazil where former zoo and circus elephants from across South America live their best lives.

Website: https://globalelephants.org/

Donate: Global Sanctuary for Elephants is a U.S. 501(c)3 non-profit. Our work is made possible by donations. You can support our work with a general donation, purchasing items from our wishlist, or adopting one (or all) of our elephants for a year. You can also donate with Crypto!

Thank you for your support!

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While we encourage and appreciate you sharing our podcast, please note that…

This presentation is protected by U.S. and International copyright laws. Reproduction and distribution of the presentation or its contents without written permission of the sponsor is prohibited.

© 2023 Global Sanctuary for Elephants

A big Thank You to the talented musicians Mike McGill, Ron McGill, & Sean Rodriquez for composing our podcast jingle.

In this episode, we explore some of the traits we so admire in elephants: empathy, self-awareness, and their capacity for grief, and how these are shaped by the bonds they form over a lifetime.

Scott raises an important question: Can we truly understand relationships that develop over decades within multi-generational herds, when our own lives are so far removed from that kind of social structure?

We look at how bonds form and what happens when they are disrupted. How do elephants in captivity build relationships without the foundation of a natural herd? And how might their experience of loss differ from that of wild elephants?

Drawing on their work at Elephant Sanctuary Brazil and The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee, Kat and Scott share moving stories of friendship, leadership, and loss, offering a rare insight into the emotional lives of elephants.

We also touch on moments that are harder to explain, instances that hint at a deeper awareness, a kind of “knowing” that challenges our understanding of connection and what it means to be an elephant.

🐘❤️ Become a Pathfinder and support our work starting at USD10 a month.

The episode transcript can be found here.

Email: We’d love to hear from you podcast@globalelephants.org

Who we are: Global Sanctuary for Elephants exists to create vast, safe spaces for captive elephants, where they are able to heal physically and emotionally. There are elephants around the world in need of sanctuary, but too few places exist to be able to care for even a fraction of the elephants. International support is necessary to build sanctuaries for elephants in need of rescue and rehabilitation. Our pilot project is Elephant Sanctuary Brazil where former zoo and circus elephants from across South America live their best lives.

Website: https://globalelephants.org/

Donate: Global Sanctuary for Elephants is a U.S. 501(c)3 non-profit. Our work is made possible by donations. You can support our work with a general donation, purchasing items from our wishlist, or adopting one (or all) of our elephants for a year. You can also donate with Crypto!

Thank you for your support!

Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, X, Threads & YouTube.

While we encourage and appreciate you sharing our podcast, please note that…

This presentation is protected by U.S. and International copyright laws. Reproduction and distribution of the presentation or its contents without written permission of the sponsor is prohibited.

© 2023 Global Sanctuary for Elephants

A big Thank You to the talented musicians Mike McGill, Ron McGill, & Sean Rodriquez for composing our podcast jingle.

In the first episode of our new Rethinking Elephants series, we begin by exploring the architecture of elephant societies. Scott and Kat give an overview of herd structure—from matrilineal families and the role of the matriarch to key differences between African and Asian elephants.

While many of our listeners are already elephant-savvy, this episode asks a deeper question: what happens when these natural systems are missing? What does life look like for captive elephants who are missing the guidance of a matriarch or the support of a multi-generational herd?

We also reflect on individual stories, like Pocha raising Guillermina alone, without the allomothering and social framework elephants rely on in the wild.

This episode sets the foundation for the series, drawing on the architecture of elephant societies and the bonds that shape an elephant’s life.

🐘❤️ Become an aunt - or uncle - to one of our elephants. Adopt one or more of The Girls!

The episode transcript can be found here.

Email: We’d love to hear from you podcast@globalelephants.org

Who we are: Global Sanctuary for Elephants exists to create vast, safe spaces for captive elephants, where they are able to heal physically and emotionally. There are elephants around the world in need of sanctuary, but too few places exist to be able to care for even a fraction of the elephants. International support is necessary to build sanctuaries for elephants in need of rescue and rehabilitation. Our pilot project is Elephant Sanctuary Brazil where former zoo and circus elephants from across South America live their best lives.

Website: https://globalelephants.org/

Donate: Global Sanctuary for Elephants is a U.S. 501(c)3 non-profit. Our work is made possible by donations. You can support our work with a general donation, purchasing items from our wishlist, or adopting one (or all) of our elephants for a year. You can also donate with Crypto!

Thank you for your support!

Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, X, Threads & YouTube.

While we encourage and appreciate you sharing our podcast, please note that…

This presentation is protected by U.S. and International copyright laws. Reproduction and distribution of the presentation or its contents without written permission of the sponsor is prohibited.

© 2023 Global Sanctuary for Elephants

A big Thank You to the talented musicians Mike McGill, Ron McGill, & Sean Rodriquez for composing our podcast jingle.