Todd Montgomery of the Elephant Sanctuary joined GoLocal LIVE
For more than 20 years, The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee has provided elephants retired from entertainment and exhibition with a safe home, a herd, and veterinary care.
The sanctuary has over 2,700 acres of protected natural habitat for Asian and African elephants.
Education Manager, Todd Montgomery, says elephants that have lived in captivity have an opportunity at The Sanctuary to live in an expansive habitat that allows for natural behaviors.
“Elephants are very special animals,” Montgomery says, “we’re learning and growing and we’re learning so much more about what these elephants demand and what these elephants need and how incredibly intelligent they are and their amazing range of emotions and behaviors that they have.”
“I don’t see any reason that as we grow and as we learn that we don’t evolve our care standards to go along with our knowledge,” Montgomery says.
He says if you are interested in learning about elephants, doing some type of tourism involving elephants, the best thing to do is ask a lot of questions, to see if the organization or company takes care of the animal.
When it comes to dangers, Montgomery says elephants face threats from a loss of habitat and poaching. He says it’s a very real possibility the animals go extinct in the wild within his life time.
“The biggest threat to elephants,” Montgomery says, “it is humans. We’ve caused the elephants more problems than anything else has, so now the challenge for us, is to figure out a way to, if not undo all of that, to find a way to live in a sustainable manner with these animals in the wild and in captivity in the foreseeable future.”
To help preserve and protect elephants, Montgomery says a very simple step is to change your buying habits. He suggests people should support organizations with ecologically friendly principals and to buy coffee that is shade grown.
World Elephant Day is August 12. It’s an international event dedicated to the preservation and protection of the world's elephants. To celebrate, The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee will be streaming live video on their Instagram page.
Related Slideshow: 25 Things You Must do in New England Before the Summer Ends - 2017
The Worcester Art Museum is offering free admission throughout the month of August, so take advantage.
“Free August” includes access for everyone to special exhibitions, the permanent galleries, and WAM’s August programming -- including Art + Market, tours, Art Carts, arms and armor demonstrations, and Nude Drawing in the Galleries.
Take a 30 minute tour of Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream factory in Vermont and see where your favorite flavors of ice cream are made. It is ice cream season after all.
The factory is open year round and admission is just $4 for adults, $3 for seniors and kids 12 and under are FREE.
The 2017 Worcester World Cup is set to take place from Friday, August 11 to Sunday, August 13.
The Worcester World Cup is more than a soccer tournament. It's a celebration of Worcester and a safe, friendly family event that people look forward to all year.
The Fruitlands Museum offers four galleries of New England history set on 200 acres of land with 2.5 miles of walking trails woven into it for folks to enjoy the scenery.
Providence WaterFire has grown to be an iconic Rhode Island event.
Starting out in 1994 to celebrate the 10th anniversary of First Night Providence, it has grown to run continuously, once a month, from May-November and boasts over 80 blazing fires in the middle of the Providence River.
WaterFire is a not-for-profit organization that aims to creatively transform Providence – and they do! Each event is accompanied with music by artists from around the world, varies food stands and art stands to browse as you stroll along the river.
Need some extra excitement to close out the summer? Head to the Berkshires and get yourself on a zip line, maybe even do a canopy tour.
There are three different tour options, starting with the base area tour which lasts an hour or the Mountain Top or Valley Jump tour which takes three hours. Both of those are sure to shoot some adrenaline into your day.
The must see concert of the summer, Billy Joel at Fenway Park on August 30.
Billy Joel released his first hit song, arguably still his biggest hit, Piano Man in 1973 an since has become the 6th best selling recording artist and the third best selling solo artist in the United States.
Joel was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1992 and then the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1999.
Seeing Joel would be a great way to cap off the summer.
The Cliff Walk is one of Newport’s most famous attractions is its gilded age mansions lining the coast. Entry to the mansions will cost a fee, but with the Cliff Walk, you can enjoy views of the mansions with amazing views of the water all for free.
The 3.5 mile long path runs behind the mansions on the eastern shore of Newport. It is a National Recreation Trail – the first in New England! The majority of the walk is easy, but be sure to wear good shoes; the sand can make the path slippery.
People have been drawn to the rugged coast of Maine throughout history. Awed by its beauty and diversity, early 20th-century visionaries donated the land that became Acadia National Park.
The park is home to many plants and animals, and the tallest mountain on the U.S. Atlantic coast.
Visit Acadia and hike granite peaks, bike historic carriage roads, or relax and enjoy the scenery.
The park entrance fee is FREE from August 25th to the 28th.
Besides that, admission is $12 while those 15 and under are FREE of charge.
If you want a little bit of late summer adventure, hike to Royalston Falls in Royalston, MA.
The hike itself isn’t too long, but it can be challenging. It leads you to a remote gorge created by prehistoric glacial meltwater and 45 foot plunging waterfall within a half-hidden ravine. If you’re up for the adventure, the destination is far worth the trek.
The idea behind the Blackstone River Bikeway was to create a bike path running 48 miles, from Worcester to Providence along the National Heritage Corridor. It links the Blackstone River and the Blackstone Canal connect with the East Bay Bike Path in Rhode Island.
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