The Alternative: Elephant Sanctuaries
Sanctuaries
A sanctuary provides a permanent home for animals that cannot be released back into the wild, with their wellbeing taking priority over all other considerations. Unlike zoos, sanctuaries do not breed animals for display, exchange them with other institutions or use them for entertainment. Their aim is to provide animals with a life that comes as close as possible to meeting their natural needs, in large spaces where they have greater freedom of movement, more choice in their daily lives and opportunities for appropriate social interaction.
For elephants, sanctuaries offer the best alternative to traditional captivity. They can provide tens or even hundreds of hectares of land, varied natural environments, opportunities to walk long distances, form more stable social bonds and not be exposed to the public.
Veterinary care is also essential, given the physical and psychological condition in which many elephants arrive after spending their lives in zoos or circuses. In a sanctuary, the aim is no longer to display animals for public entertainment, but to provide them with an environment suited to their physical, psychological and social needs, allowing them to live the rest of their lives in more respectful and appropriate conditions.
Fondation Franz Weber works closely with Elephant Sanctuary Brazil and has helped relocate five elephants from Argentina to the sanctuary between 2020 and 2025.
There are currently two elephant sanctuaries in Europe, both of which FFW is also in regular contact with:
- Pangea Trust in Portugal: the sanctuary is preparing to welcome its first African elephant, currently held at a Belgian zoo.
- Elephant Haven in France: the sanctuary is home to Asian elephants formerly kept by the zoo and circus industries. Plans to expand the sanctuary to accommodate African elephants require further funding before they can go ahead.
The ELE Project in Argentina
For almost ten years, Fondation Franz Weber (FFW) has been running its ELE campaign in Argentina. Years of determined work led to the transfer of Mara, Pocha, Guillermina, Pupy and Kenya from the zoos of Mendoza and Buenos Aires to the Elephant Sanctuary Brazil (ESB). As a result, there are now no elephants left in captivity in Argentina.
The ELE campaign in Argentina was launched with the aim of ending the captivity of elephants in the country’s zoos. Through advocacy with authorities, courts and zoological institutions, together with veterinary and administrative expertise, several elephants were successfully transferred to the Elephant Sanctuary Brazil (ESB). There, they finally have space, greater freedom of movement and living conditions far better suited to their natural needs. Mara was transferred in 2020, Pocha and Guillermina in 2022, followed by Pupy and Kenya in 2025.
These successive transfers marked a major shift in the way elephants are viewed in Latin America. In July 2025, when Kenya left for the sanctuary in Brazil, Argentina became the first country on the continent to have no elephants remaining in captivity. Building on this unique experience, Fondation Franz Weber now intends to continue this work in Spain, Mexico, Chile and Switzerland.