"THE ELEPHANT SANCTUARY MOURNS LOSS OF BELLA THE DOGDear Companion to Tarra – The Sanctuary’s Founding ElephantMy dear friends,I write to you with very sad news. Tarra's little dog Bella has died. Wefound her body on Wednesday and have been dealing with the aftermathever since, trying to work out what happened while we look after Tarraand each other.We noticed Bella was not with Tarra at breakfast on Tuesday and laterthat morning she still had not appeared. Tarra and Bella have alwaysspent short periods apart as one goes off exploring briefly on theirown, but this longer absence worried us deeply and a search of theproperty was started which continued into the next day. The search endedtragically when Bella's body was found close to the Asia barn that hadlong been home to Tarra, her five sisters and Bella. During the time ofthe search our usually social Tarra chose to remain alone, watched overby concerned Caregivers.Dr. Scott, our vet of sixteen years, examined Bella for the last timeand, with advice from the experts from the Tennessee Wildlife ResourcesAgency, determined the probable cause of death was an attack by animals,most likely coyotes. We have sent off samples to see whether there wereany other contributory causes.Having carefully examined Bella's wounds and the place where she wasfound, we concluded that Bella had not been attacked near where she wasfound and neither could she have walked there.As these investigations were taking place observant Caregivers, evenmore watchful of Tarra than usual, noticed blood on the underside of hertrunk, evidence that pointed us in the direction of what likelyhappened that fateful night.The most probable scenario is that during the night Bella strayed fromTarra briefly and was set upon. Tarra arrived too late to save her butwas able to stop further damage being done to Bella's body. With deepsadness and deeper wonder we come to comprehend what likely happenednext—that Tarra picked Bella up and carried her home.Further evidence in support of our belief for what happened comes fromTarra herself. After Bella had been found, Caregivers ensured Tarra hadevery chance to inspect Bella's body before it was buried and to come toterms with her death, as this is an important part of the grievingprocess for elephants. But Tarra was not interested in either Bella orthe group of Caregivers who would normally have drawn our inquisitiveGirl to see what was happening.It was only later when we had pieced together the whole picture thatTarra's behavior at Bella's grave made sense. Our poor, brave, lovingGirl knew what had happened to her beloved Bella and, in the dark hoursof the night as she carried her body home, had come to terms with herdeath.Tarra's sisters will help her through her sadness. Although we cannottake away Tarra's pain immediately or the pain of all those that knewBella, I do know Bella knew true love and true freedom. It will alwaysbe so for animals that find Sanctuary.We are very concerned for Tarra and the grief she must feel at theloss of Bella. Caregivers are carefully monitoring her during her timeof mourning. She still has a healthy appetite, and we are sure she willlean on the support of her elephant sisters, especially Shirley, duringthis difficult time.She appears to be doing remarkably well under the circumstances, and wewill, of course, keep you informed through updates in the AsianEle-Diary and in Ele-Notes.We invite you to visit Bella’s www.elephants.com/Bella/Bella.php , where we’ve shared some memories of the time she spent with us at The Sanctuary, and also read the www.elephants.com/newsStory.php?newsID=1319 that was just issued.“Bella, you will live on forever in our hearts. Don't worry, we willcontinue to look after Tarra, just as you looked after each other.” TheElephant Sanctuary StaffMemories like these make us smile through our sadness…."