Minnie, Debbie and Ronnie

In the past, Minnie was separated from Debbie and Ronnie because she got overly excited when she played and was too rough with them. After Lottie's passing, we knew that Minnie would miss that physical companionship, so on Dec. 4th we decided to reintroduce them to see how it would go. To our amazement, their initial interactions went really well. While a little more practice is needed, we are so proud of the strides Minnie has made, especially with how well she got along with Ronnie.

Category:

Pets & Animals

Tags:

• elephant
• sanctuary
• minnie
• debbie
• ronnie

[veggiewarriors]

How do you distinguish between them?

I know Shirley and Tarra have distinct features but what about the others?

[elephantsanctuarytn]

@veggiewarriors If you go to our Elecam page and click on the elephants' thumbnail photos, you'll see some descriptions of their distinguishing characteristics as well as a brief bio of each.

[maryea46]

Many thanks TES for sharing this wonderful video, which I find so spiritually uplifting. It seems Debbie, Ronnie and Minnie are enjoying the company of each other. They say two's company and three's a crowd, but that doesn't seem to be the case here. Long may they continue to play peacefully.

Minnie seems to tower over little Ronnie. Is Minnie a big girl, or could it be that Ronnie is small for her species?

[elephantsanctuarytn]

@maryea46 Ronnie is a bit on the petite side (her caregivers nickname her "peanut") and Minnie is our 2nd largest Asian elephant. Debbie is actually slightly larger than Minnie, but she is much more passive and reserved than Minnie, who is a bundle of energy.

[ediet516]

Can you give us a little insight on their actions? I know that it seems very sweet, but I almost wonder if the gentle pushing is a way of them trying to position themselves as the dominant individual. Debbie and Ronnie would almost have to be at least a little territorial, although you can see Minnie almost regress into a submissive position at the end with her doing one of her little circus tricks which I am sure she was doing to try and gain some approval from Ronnie.

Fantastic video--<3

[elephantsanctuarytn]

@ediet516 Lastly on the territorial behavior, although we do occasionally see some of this (We have witnessed Flora and Dulary do it before) we have never seen territorial behavior from Ronnie or Debbie. When it does happen, it is typically when another elephant comes into an area that has been “lived in" by the one defending that space. The area that Minnie, Debbie and Ronnie were in here in this video was primarily Minnie's space. Good questions!

[BigHrdB]

Oh, HOW I LOVE these BEAUTIFUL CREATURES with all my heart. I would do ANYthing to go & visit you guys at the Sanctuary and get the chance to give these gorgeous girls my Love. Even if I had to scoop hundreds of pounds of poop, haul food & water to them where EVER in the property, or bathe and/or brush them. Just to be in their SACRED PRESENCE & give 'em ALL a BIG KISS & HUG & let 'em all know that I ADORE them, and will for my entire life. Sighhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

[duallydriver2]

I clicked the "I like this" button, because I couldn't find a "I love this" button... How anybody can mistreat these gentle giants is beyond me. Thanks for all you do for all these precious creatures.

Mike in Abilene. Texas

[Artmusichg]

That tenderness of elephants.

[2007bubbles1]

beautiful thank you

[shellyloo53]

this is my favorite video of the girls..it is breathtaking in the joy and love shared between the elephants. knowing that these wonderful animals are living in such an environment makes me so happy. some day i hope to see elephants in the wild but until then i enjoy the sanctuary, the webcams every day.

[hugwildlife]

Its so sweet the way elephants snuggle to each other. I really seems that they are all getting along beautifully! Thank you very much for sharing this!

[sweetpea3339]

Watching this I am overcome.........theses creatures are magnificient. Thank You Elephant Sanctuary for existing!

[ediet516]

Thank you so much for the quick responses!  It definitely helps clarify their actions. I did notice that Minnie was almost uncomfortable when she sat down and lifted her front leg, I felt so badly for her that she felt that she had to position herself this way for any reason.

No matter what, it is nice to see them all get along and have such caring actions towards each other.

Thank you so much for continually posting videos on their escapades! I love it!

Edie