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.

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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.

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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 this week’s episode, we catch up with Kat and Scott. While they’re still busy providing documentation to SEMA, we’re happy to share that the temporary suspension of the sanctuary’s operating licence has been lifted.

We also celebrate one very dedicated listener with our first-ever Global Rumblings Podcast Binge Award of 2025 — after listening to every episode in just one month.

For the past three seasons, we’ve been catching up on the last ten years of Scott and Kat’s lives since arriving in Brazil. Now, it’s time to zoom out.

We introduce a new multi-part series, Rethinking Elephants: The Bigger Conversation — a deeper exploration of who elephants are, what science now understands about them, and the larger ethical questions surrounding captivity.

Over the coming episodes, we’ll explore elephant society and communication, trauma and social disruption, neuroscience and welfare research, the physical costs of confinement, the history of captivity, modern conservation debates, why society continues to accept it — and ultimately, what an ethical future for elephants could look like.

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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.