Elephants in Texas? No way. That’s what I thought until I spent a September afternoon with five gregarious pachyderms at the Hill Country Elephant Preserve outside of  Stonewall, Texas—about 65 miles west of Austin.

I learned about the preserve while perusing a list of typical businesses on the website of the Stonewall Chamber of Commerce. Immediately curious because I’m fascinated by elephants, I emailed the preserve for more information.  An invitation to join an “elephant experience” arrived a few days later.

I followed Google maps down a winding country road deep in the Texas Hill Country to what initially looked like a well-manicured private ranch where urban Texans might escape to on weekends to tend Longhorn cattle. I joined about 20 other people—masks on and socially distanced—beneath a large metal canopy on the 57-acre preserve. In the distance, horses and goats grazed in pastures surrounded by rolling hills, shallow ponds, and stands of tall shade trees.

 

Five gregarious elephants

 

 

Promptly at 2 p.m., five female Asian elephants–linked trunk-to-tail–lumbered up to the canopy. They bowed in unison as a staff member introduced them by name as “the five smartest, most beautiful elephants in the entire world.”

During the next 90 minutes, Tai, Dixie, Kitty, Rosie, and Becky showed off their many talents while we learned that the elephant population in Asia has dwindled to just 35,000 due to poaching, abuse, and loss of habitat.

Supported by a nonprofit foundation, the preserve works with international preservation groups to ensure the survival of the species, staff member Sevannah Stewart told me afterward. “The elephants receive extraordinary care here,” she said. “We create once-in-a-lifetime educational experiences with the elephants for people, including schools and military groups.”

 

An elephant pedicure

The staff encourages close interactions between guests and elephants, which range in age from 33 to 58. We helped bathe and feed the elephants. We observed an elephant getting a pedicure. We posed for pictures with them and we applauded Rosie after she slapped paint on a T-shirt with her trunk. (Wall art and T-shirts painted by the elephants are sold in the gift shop.)

Human interaction with elephants isn’t without controversy. The preserve moved to Texas from Southern California about two years ago after state regulations there tightened rules regarding wild animals, according to Stewart. Animal rights groups also have criticized wild animal performances.

Since relocating to Central Texas, the preserve has quietly built its business, mostly by word of mouth, Stewart told me. The preserve plans to add more animals such as giant tortoises and kangaroos in the near future.

Elephant experiences are offered twice a day on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays. Tickets are $95 per person; children under three are free.