Zoo Elephant Research Articles

Welfare at Multiple Scales: Importance of Zoo Elephant Population Welfare in a World of Declining Wild Populations

In-situ elephant populations have been in decline for much of the last 200 years, driven by an inexorable combination of habitat loss and hunting for ivory, but with more recent and dramatic declines primarily driven by hunting [1]. Consequently, the distribution and sustainability of elephant populations are now better predicted by human factors than ecological ones [2], underscoring the importance of societal factors in the ongoing survival of elephants. Despite growing awareness of the conservation crisis, hunting pressure has not abated. Instead, there has been a recent surge in harvest rates [3,4], more than doubling of harvest since 2007 [5]. The rates are staggering, escalating from an estimated 40,000 African elephants killed in 2011 [4] and 41 tons of ivory seized, to possibly more than 10% of the remaining populations in 2013 (summarised in [6]). In April 2016, the Kenyan Wildlife Service burned the biggest stockpile of ivory since it began burning ivory in 1989, with 105 tonnes of ivory destroyed, representing 6000–7000 poached elephants [7,8]. Similar declines have been seen in forest [3,9] and Asian [10] elephants. The current harvest rate of elephants is unsustainable, creating a conservation crisis of global significance, with an immediate threat to their continued survival [11]. Novel genetic tracing techniques (e.g [6]) and strict anti-poaching law enforcement [5] are vital to conserve the remaining free-ranging elephant populations.

Influence of Handling Method on Adrenal Activity in Zoo African and Asian Elephants

As a first step towards investigating the effect of management choice – free contact (FC) or protected contact (PC) – on zoo elephant well-being, this study evaluated serum cortisol concentrations in weekly samples collected over a 2-year period from 112 female elephants (58 African, 54 Asian) managed in either FC (n=58) or PC (n=54) management systems at 48 facilities. Results showed there were no differences in overall or baseline mean concentrations of serum cortisol between the two management systems. A GLM analysis exploring the response of individual baseline cortisol concentration to management (FC vs PC), facility, species, and the interaction of management and facility revealed that the only parameter with significant explanatory power was the facility where the elephants were housed. Thus, it may be more important to evaluate specific facility effects on adrenal activity, such as enclosure conditions, enrichment opportunities, or social interactions, rather than handling technique. Although many zoos are moving to a PC management approach, particularly within the American Zoo and Aquarium Association, from a welfare standpoint there is probably not a one-size-fits-all management strategy that is ideal. Rather, it may be necessary to consider individual elephant coping styles and social needs on a case by case basis before deciding whether FC or PC is most appropriate for management, especially when considering how to address welfare concerns.

Personality assessment in African elephants (Loxodonta africana): Comparing the temporal stability of ethological coding versus trait rating

The consistency of personality assessment was addressed in this study of 12 zoological African elephants living at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park in Escondido, CA, USA during the 2010 and 2011 summer seasons. Using 480h of observational behavior data, three personality traits were determined based on behavior events, with the most significant correlations (two-tailed rs>0.77, P<0.005) being playful, curious, and sociable. During both summers, the animal care staff rated all elephants across 25 adjective items. Four rating-based personality traits were then clustered based on items with the most significant correlations (one-tailed rs>0.72, P<0.005): playful, observant, shy and confident. All seven personality traits correlated significantly (P<0.05) from 2010 to 2011 for each individual elephant, demonstrating temporal stability. Additionally, the coded playful trait was correlated significantly (P<0.01) to the rated trait playful, demonstrating construct validity and cross-method consistency. These results suggest that humans have the ability to discriminate zoo elephant personalities reliably and accurately. This, therefore, suggests that rating of zoo elephant personalities by caretakers with extensive knowledge of the species’ behavioral repertoire may be a valid proxy for long-term behavioral monitoring. Personality assessments may allow animal caretakers to identify appropriate roles for certain individuals (i.e., social compatibility, operant training, and transport to another facility), aid the individualization of environmental enrichment, and provide vital predictors of coping ability (i.e., stress response/resiliency).

The Effects of Housing on Zoo Elephant Behavior: A Quantitative Case Study of Diurnal and Seasonal Variation

One of the greatest challenges for zoo managers is ensuring the best possible welfare for zoo elephants. Few studies have focused on behavioral health of elephants over a 24-hour period and across seasons, making evaluations of behavioral variation challenging. This study examined the behavior of two zoo-housed African elephants (Loxodonta africana) over a two-year period to determine the roles of 1) indoor/outdoor housing, 2) time of day, and 3) seasonal variation on activity. Daytime behavioral differences were contrasted with nighttime activity, and across seasons. Significant differences were noted when the elephants were indoors vs. outdoors, between day and night, and between summer and winter, suggesting that evaluations of zoo elephant activity should occur throughout circadian cycles and account for seasonal variability

The effects of GPS collars on African elephant (Loxodonta africana) behavior at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park

The use of tracking devices (e.g., VHF radio collars, GPS collars, ear transmitters) enables researchers to assess activity budgets, species-specific movement patterns, effects of environmental enrichment, and exercise levels in zoo animals. The fundamental assumption in these studies of tagged animals is that attachable tracking devices have negligible effects on the animals’ behavior. The present study examined solitary and social behavior rates, as well as overall activity budgets, in eight African elephants living at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, Escondido, CA, USA. Each elephant was trained over several months to wear leather collars affixed with GPS units encased in watertight plastic containers. Behavioral data collected while the GPS collars were worn (16 daylight hours, 16 night hours) were compared to behavioral data when the GPS collars were not worn (16 daylight hours, 16 night hours) throughout June and July 2010. No significant differences (P<0.05) in behavior rates or average percent of observation time the subjects were recorded in particular states were found. During the morning hours, while the collars were both worn and not worn, feeding was the most common behavior state (M=44.7±3.8%, M=49.3±15.3%), followed by resting (M=35.5±10%, M=37.3±12%) and walking (M=10±3.1%, M=8.7±1.9%). During the evening hours, feeding remained the most common behavior state for both worn and not worn conditions (M=66.1±12.3%, M=63.3±13.7%), followed by resting (M=17.6±7.7%, M=19.4±9.5%), and sleeping (M=8.1±8.9%, M=7.8±8.1%). This distribution of daily behavior state is similar to previous activity budgets examined in other zoo elephant herds. These results suggest that, with adequate training, GPS collars may have minimal impact on the behavior of zoo elephants.

Variation in nature: its implications for zoo elephant management

AbstractDespite many advances in animal care and welfare over the past few decades, zoos have been criticized recently for the quality of their elephant management programs. More specifically, critics have argued that elephants live miserable lives in captivity and thus should not be kept in zoos. Poor health and reproductive success, they say, are the result of the combined impact of: a lack of exercise; exposure to cold temperatures and disease; and stress due to the use of “brutal” training techniques, chaining and inappropriate social environments. Everyone, including zoo professionals, seems to agree that improvements in zoo elephant management are necessary and appropriate. However, there is considerable disagreement on how to proceed and little information on which to base such decisions. One tactic that the critics have adopted in their efforts to promote change is their frequent reference to “nature” as a yardstick for gauging the adequacy of zoo animal management and care. An argument is made that direct zoo–wild comparisons are of questionable utility and may be invalid from a scientific perspective. Some critics talk about “nature” as if it represented a fixed set of rules by which captive managers must either abide by or risk diminishing the health and welfare of their charges. However, many aspects of elephant natural history vary greatly depending on prevailing environmental conditions and elephants may be much more flexible than many critics are giving them credit for. Thus, although zoo animal managers should look to nature for clues about how to best care for captive elephants, they should not feel constrained by them. This revelation is not intended as an excuse for poor elephant management or to support the status quo. On the contrary, a better approach is to develop realistic and biologically meaningful metrics that reflect the quality of elephant care and welfare and to use them to measure the success of evolving zoo elephant programs. Zoo Biol 25:161–171, 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.

Gilded City: Scandal and Sensation in Turn-of-the-Century New York

The Monied Metropolis: New York City and the Consolidation of the American Bourgeoisie, 1850–1896. By Sven Beckert. (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2001. xx, 492 pp. $34.95, ISBN 0-521-79039-5.) On February 10, 1897, Bradley and Cornelia Martin hosted a lavish masquerade ball at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. Adorned as kings and queens, the guests wore garish costumes, some costing hundreds of thousands of dollars. This social event occupies a central place in two remarkably different new books on late-nineteenth-century New York City. In Gilded City, M. H. Dunlop argues that the ball revealed the marrow of urban life, exposing the decadence and “super consumption” of the era. She focuses on the excesses and oddities of late-nineteenth-century New York City, providing florid descriptions of wild spending sprees and bric-a-brac collections. Gilded City ends with a chapter-long account of the nine-hour effort to euthanize an uncooperative zoo elephant. Relying mainly on New York newspapers, Dunlop avers that the frenetic pace of daily life left city dwellers, particularly the elite, in a frantic search for meaning, which they often derived from owning and displaying “desirable stuff.”

Factors Influencing Zoo Visitors' Conservation Attitudes and Behavior

The author predicted that Zoo Atlanta visitors who had interactive experience with the zoo's elephant demonstration and bio-fact program would be more likely to actively support elephant conservation than those who simply viewed the animals in their exhibit and read graphics. The survey instruments used in this research consisted of 25 closed-ended questions, petitions, and conservation-action solicitation cards. A random sample of 471 zoo visitors was selected, and 350 individuals completed the survey, signed petitions, and took solicitation cards. The overall return rate of the solicitation cards was 18.3%; the return rate was higher for visitors who had higher levels of interaction with the elephant exhibit. The return rates by experience were highest—29.7%, high—20.3%, undetermined—14.8%, low—14.3%, and lowest—11.6%. For the five categories of experience, the distribution of return rates was not random, χ2(4,N = 64) = 9.88, p < .04.