Shirley, age 56, has become a protective adopted mother to Jenny.
When Shirley first arrived in 1999, Jenny seemed to recognize her immediately although there is no bloodline connection between the two former circus animals.
Buckley's research discovered the two had a link dating back 27 years. When Jenny was 6, she spent several weeks with Shirley before being shipped elsewhere. They resumed their old relationship quickly.
"Shirley is the doting mom, and Jenny is the big baby," Buckley said. "She's reverted, she does baby behavior, baby talk, baby everything and all she has to do is go `Mom!' and Shirley will come tearing across the pasture to make sure everything's OK."
The death of Barbara in 2001 at 35 also helped forge the group into a family.
Barbara was group leader before Shirley, and during her final months each elephant spent at least a day alone with her, Blais said.
"Elephants show an incredible grieving and mourning process when a group member dies," said Marc Bekoff, University of Colorado-Boulder biology professor and expert in animal emotions. "They'll surround the bones, and almost mope around. There's a definite change in demeanor and posture."
Tarra, 29, took the death hard. She stayed at Barbara's grave for nearly 48 hours after the burial, and she and Bunny, 51, still visit it occasionally, Buckley said.
Experts say elephants' social skills are extremely refined and captivity can cause anti-social behavior by depriving the animals of companionship and the ability to roam.
"Typically what you'll see is animals in captivity are more distressed," Bekoff said. "Captive animals are more raw, and you won't see as much free-ranging joy."
But the sanctuary gives the elephants every opportunity to live without demands."We're all about giving the elephants their lives back," Blais said.
On the Net:
The Elephant Sanctuary: http://www.elephants.com/
Marc Bekoff's Web site: http://literati.net/Bekoff/
RSS