Elephants, guests find sanctuary in Ozarks

GREENBRIER, Ark. — As you walk through the field beside them, it's difficult to tell if that rumble is the sound of their mighty footsteps or your heart thumping in your chest.

Then just before you sink into the forest, one of the elephants throws her trunk into the air and trumpets, and you're certain what you're witnessing is nothing short of magical.

You're not on an African safari. You're in Arkansas, in the foothills of the Ozark Mountains, at a sanctuary for unwanted elephants. And this may be the closest you'll ever get to these mammoth creatures.

Riddle's Elephant and Wildlife Sanctuary will celebrate its 20th year in 2010. For years, owners Scott and Heidi Riddle have opened its gates for the Elephant Experience Weekend, where visitors get up close and personal with the sanctuary's eight African and Asian elephants over three days.

The weekends, held about six times per year, help the small nonprofit cover the cost of caring for and feeding the elephants. But the Riddles say it's more about the education and conservation of the animals they've spent their whole lives working with.

"There might be somebody sitting in that room who might have some fantastic, positive impact on the future of all elephants in the world," said Scott, who has trained and managed elephants for 44 years.

But on this weekend, it's the elephants that have the impact.

On the first evening as guests sit around assorted lawn chairs under a big white tent swapping stories about who they are and where they're from, a loud gasp brings a sudden halt to the conversation. It's Miss Bets, the sanctuary's rambunctious 2-year-old African elephant, and her mother Amy, and they're headed to their barn for the night. The handlers stop briefly to allow each of the 11 guests to feed the baby a marshmallow, her favorite treat.

That night, as guests dine in the chow hall, Asian elephants Peggy and Betty Boop — affectionately known as Booper — munch on hay and twigs under the stars a couple dozen feet away.

Over the next two days, guests get plenty of hands-on experience with the elephants, learning along the way what it takes to care for the massive beasts. Peggy and Booper lie on their sides and let the group bathe them, using brushes to remove the mud that gets trapped in their bristly hairs.