Buta the Elephant has Arrived at Noah's Ark
Website: www.noahsarkzoofarm.co.uk
Buta, our first elephant, has just arrived at her new home, Elephant Eden, our newly developed 20 acre elephant habitat. The enormous habitat, described as a ‘5 Star Hotel’ for elephants by international elephant consultant Alan Roocroft, is the largest in the UK and in Northern Europe, with great features which put elephant welfare first. This has already generated global media interest though which we hope to have illustrated the importance of taking the role of stewardship of animals and our envrionment seriously. Elephant Eden is full of sustainable features such as solar panels and a biomass boiler.
Buta is a stunning 30 year old female African elephant with bucket loads of personality. She is settling well into her new environment, exploring, discovering new scents, throwing sand around and even tossing a Christmas tree over her back used for enrichment in her yard!
She is in the first stages of exploring her outdoor environment, which includes sand pits, mud wallows for her to wade in, a pool, a scratching tree and a browse plantation. These are the first steps of a ground breaking project paving the way for elephant habitats around the world.
Buta arrived safely from Knowsley Safari Park, near Merseyside, she will be joined by Nissim a bull, also from Knowsley, as soon as he has completed his training to make him comfortable with the transportation process. They will then share this incredible environment together before being joined by more elephants as the herd is established.
Blessings for Buta, the first elephant to arrive at Eden
Rector of Christ Church Nailsea and of Tickenham, Tony Roake was asked to pray for a blessing of the first elephant, Buta, to arrive at Elephant Eden at Noah’s Ark Zoo Farm in Bristol, the largest and most modern elephant enclosure in Europe.
Former MP Anne Widdecombe was also present to welcome Buta to her 20 acre enclosure, where access to outdoors is offered 24hrs a day. The elephants have 9 sand yards as well as 3 big fields to live on and are trained on a “want-to” basis to cooperate with their Keepers called Protective Contact, to aid health care management.
A total of 5 elephants are needed to be the foundation of the new herd at Elephant Eden, of which the male and first female are from Knowsley Safari Park near Merseyside. Buta has arrived first, to be followed shortly by Nissim the bull.
Anthony Bush, who with his wife Christina own Noah’s Ark, has been a Lay Reader in the C of E for 40 years and was Regional Director of Mission England in 1984 and founder of Send a Cow, the educational and livestock charity for Africa. Anthony is concerned about the plight of African elephants and is working with others to protect their welfare and improve the welfare of the people who live alongside them in Africa.