In the green swamplands of Florida, it’s common to find cows, horses, and, if you look close enough, elephants.

The Center for Elephant Conservation is nestled in the lush green protected swamp in Polk City, in eastern Polk County. Like most retirees, these elephants are spending their golden years in sunny Florida.

The Center is home to 29 elephants and will soon welcome more.

“We’re going to add the 13 that are traveling," said Janice Aria, director of animal stewardship for the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus. "They will be become residents at the Center for Elephant Conservation and join our already existing herd.”

Amid public concern, Ringling Brothers’ parent company, Feld Entertainment, announced it would retire all of their performing elephants by 2018. These elephants will join the herd at the center in Polk County.

The center is doing more than providing a comfortable life for the largest land mammals on Earth.

“It’s currently a real mecca for elephant research,” Aria said. “When we add to our herd, we’ll just really expand our capability of studying everything from brand new births, which are always exciting, to geriatrics care.”

Icky and Alana are two elephants at the center who have nine children and two grandchildren between them. These ladies are handled by Trudy Williams, manager of animal stewardship.

“These elephants are very important to the survival of the species,” Williams said, standing between Icky and Alana. “Since they’re both still breeding, they’re important to the survival by having more calves and being able to replenish the population.”

The Asian elephant is an endangered species. The World Wildlife Federation estimates up to 32,750 Asian elephants live in the wild. There are about 250 in the United States, and it is illegal to import elephants out of their natural habitat into the United States.

It’s not the easiest thing to breed elephants, Aria said. The Asian elephant’s pregnancy lasts about 22 months, and then the mother will nurse her calf for another two years, putting about four years in between pregnancies. Like humans, Elephants usually only have one calf at a time.

Scientists have yet to harness how to artificially inseminate an elephant.

"That’s a go-to for a lot of large species like horses and cattle, but in the Asian elephant, it’s particularly elusive,” Aria said. “We’re trying to narrow down, how do we freeze the semen [and then] reconstitute it for when we get to the source, which would be when the elephant would be actually inseminated.”

With each step forward in elephant research, experts at the center share their findings with different zoos and international partners. For example, the center has a partnership with the Elephant Transit Home in Sri Lanka, which helps take care of orphan elephants.

“[We’re] helping build their medical hospital so they can treat all the animals,” Williams said.

By sharing this information and continuing their research, the Center for Elephant Conservation hopes to ensure the survival of the species for generations to come.