All of the elephants that are rescued to Elephant Sanctuary Brazil will come from captivity. They are elephants that have spent their lives in zoos and circuses from throughout South America, Latin America and possibly beyond. Virtually all of these elephants were wild caught, captured as infants, packed into crates and shipped to zoos and circuses, where they have spent a lifetime of inherent neglect. Sanctuary is about letting them have as close to a normal life as possible in captivity.