Elephant Locked for 50 Years in Zoo's Concrete Pit Dies Less Than Six Months After Rescue

Guillermina the elephant was mourning her mother's death caused by so far an unidentified chronic illness, five months after it was rescued inside an Argentinean zoo's concrete pit.

Her mother, Pocha, lived 50 years in the pit which is almost her entire life. According to NewsWeek, she died just five months after she was rescued and transferred to a Brazilian sanctuary with an unknown cause of death.

"She was perfect," said Scott Blais, co-founder and CEO of Global Sanctuary for Elephants, a charitable organization. "She was one of those elephants that stole my heart from the get-go.... She saw well into your soul when she looked at you."

After decades spent in captivity at the Ecoparque of Mendoza, formerly the Mendoza Zoological Park, in Argentina, Pocha, 57, and her daughter Guillermina, 24, came to the sanctuary in May 2022.

Life in Captivity

Pocha is thought to have arrived at the zoo in 1968 and was held inside concrete pit for all those years. "That space was just dark, cold, damp, miserable, completely devoid of any stimulation.... She was in there for five decades," Blais said.

The huge mammals are known to hide their traumas and "have a way of compartmentalizing that suffering", even tolerate it.

Science Times wrote about the mysterious death of the elephant which are generally thought to live longer in the wild than in captivity.

The poor animals managed to adapt to their new surroundings for around five months evident in their walking, grazing, dusting, and playing behavior. Guillermina even became more nurturing and loving towards her mother and mourned shortly after her death.

Blais said that Pocha's behavior changed shortly before passing away, as if she knew her time was up.

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In Memory of Pocha

Although there were worrying signs of Pocha's decrementing health, nothing was ever diagnosed, Global Elephants said on a post. There were instances when she gets tired easily and a little slower when eating but she has improved after a multivitamin shot. A few days after she and Guillermina arrived at the Elephant Sanctuary Brazil, they noticed she was picky with her hay, and although she looked brighter than before and had more light in her eyes, she passed when caretakers returned to check on her later in the evening.

Elephants may have been labeled by some as antisocial or aggressive but this is not in their nature. Like all animals, they process their griefs as well, Guillermina has taken most of her frustration out on a bucket she took from one of the other elephants, but returned after a while.

"They mourn their dead just like us," Blais said. Guillermina now enjoys the company of other elephants which seems to be mourning along with her at night to the small yard where Pocha is buried as if holding a silent vigil.

She had four close friends now who came over and nurtured her in a way they had never had to do before.

As what Blais said, "it's a difficult time of life, but it's an important time for all of us."

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