Captive elephants

Last updated
An elephant carrying tourists sitting on a howdah India Tourism Elephant.jpg
An elephant carrying tourists sitting on a howdah

Elephants can be found in various captive facilities such as a zoo, sanctuary, circus, or camp, usually under veterinary supervision. They can be used for educational, entertainment, or work purposes.

Contents

The earliest evidence of captive elephants dates to the Indus Valley Civilization about 4,500 years ago. Since then, captive elephants have been used around the world in war, ceremony, and for labor and entertainment. [1] Captive elephants have been kept in animal collections for at least 3,500 years. The first elephant arrived in North America in 1796. [1] London Zoo, the first scientific zoo, housed elephants beginning in 1831. [2]

Before the 1980s, zoos obtained their elephants by capturing them from the wild. Increased restrictions on the capture of wild elephants and dwindling wild populations caused zoos to turn to captive breeding. [3] The first successful captive birth in North America of an Asian elephant occurred at Oregon Zoo in 1962, while the first African elephant captive birth occurred at Knoxville Zoological Gardens in 1978. [3] Today, most zoos obtain their elephants primarily through breeding, though occasionally zoos will obtain elephants from semi-captive work camps in Asia or rescue elephants that would otherwise be culled in Africa. [4] [5] Without an increase in birth rates or an influx of wild elephants, practitioners fear that captive elephant populations could become non-viable within 50 years. [6]

In 2006, 286 elephants were kept in American zoos (147 African elephants and 139 Asian elephants). [7] Nearly one in three Asian elephants lives in captivity—about 15,000 in total—mostly in work camps, temples, and ecotourism sites in the countries in which they naturally occur. [8] The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) estimates the total population of Asian elephants in the wild is 40,000 to 50,000, [9] and that of African elephants in the wild is 400,000 to 600,000. [10]

History

An elephant wearing a caparison (decorative covering), 19th century, India Royal Elephant.jpg
An elephant wearing a caparison (decorative covering), 19th century, India
Elephant drawing, c.1250, from historic writings by English monk Matthew Paris. Matthew Paris Elephant C1250 from Parker MS.jpg
Elephant drawing, c.1250, from historic writings by English monk Matthew Paris.

Tame elephants have been recorded since the Indus Valley civilization around 2,000  BCE. With mahouts , they have been used as working animals in forestry, as war elephants (by commanders such as Hannibal), for cultural and ceremonial use (such as temple elephants), as a method of execution, for public displays such as circus elephants, in elephant polo and in zoological gardens.

Sketch of Hanno, the pet white elephant of Pope Leo X, by Raphael, c.1514 Hanno.raffael.jpg
Sketch of Hanno, the pet white elephant of Pope Leo X, by Raphael, c.1514

The expression white elephant derives from a white elephant being considered sacred and therefore disqualified from useful work, yet posing a large ownership cost. [11] The origin of the expression is from the story that the kings of Siam gave white elephants as a gift to courtiers they disliked, in order to ruin the recipient by the great expense incurred in maintaining the animal. [12]

Behaviour and training

An elephant painting ThajskySlin.JPG
An elephant painting
A temple elephant being washed at a Hindu temple in Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu Bathtime at temple in Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu.jpg
A temple elephant being washed at a Hindu temple in Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu
Elephant from Wirth's Circus in a Sydney street parade (1938) Wirths circus float in Industrial procession, 1938 photog Sam Hood.jpg
Elephant from Wirth's Circus in a Sydney street parade (1938)

Elephants have the largest brains of all land animals, and ever since the time of Ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle, [13] have been renowned for their cognitive skills, with behavioural patterns shared with humans. Pliny the Elder described the animal as being closest to a human in sensibilities. [14] They also have a longer lifespan than most livestock. Elephants exhibit a wide variety of behaviors, including those associated with grief, learning, allomothering, mimicry, play, altruism, use of tools, compassion, cooperation, self-awareness, memory, and language.

In the wild, elephant herds usually consist of a matriarch that leads a stable group of related adult females and their young offspring. When male elephants reach maturity, they usually disperse from the herds where they were born and live on their own. [4] However, some males join groups called bachelor herds, where they associate with other males during the times of the year that they are not sexually active. [15] When males are sexually active, they enter a state called musth, during which time they roam widely, searching for available females. During this time, they are extremely aggressive toward other males they encounter. [16]

In captivity, providing elephants with a social structure that resembles a wild social structure is difficult, in part because moving elephants between different facilities to mimic male dispersal or facilitate breeding is a logistically challenging task, [17] but also because the extreme aggression of adult male elephants in musth poses a health and safety threat to keepers and other elephants alike. [4]

Training

Elephants in captivity can be trained to perform a variety of tasks. In Nepal, for example, elephants are ridden by forest rangers to patrol national forests and for entertainment by tourists. [18] In Myanmar, elephants assist in logging operations. [19] In North America, Australasia, and Europe, elephants are primarily trained for circuses, where they may be trained to perform tricks for the entertainment of crowds, and in zoos, where they may be trained to participate in their own husbandry by, for example, presenting their feet for nail trims or opening their mouth for dental exams. [4] The use of elephants in circuses is controversial; public outcry caused Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circuses in the United States to commit to retiring their elephants to a private sanctuary in 2015. [20]

There are three primary training styles that can be used either separately or together in elephant facilities, each with its own pros and cons for elephant welfare and human safety: [4]

Some facilities will use a combination of these handling methods, and will for example use free contact with their female elephants and protected contact with their more dangerous males. [4]

Reproduction

Most elephant populations in captivity in North America, Europe, and Asia are not self-sustaining, meaning that without an increase in birth rates or importation of wild individuals, some captive populations will be extinct within 50 years. [6] [27] Some hurdles to captive reproduction include female infertility (the causes of which are not fully understood) and an overrepresentation of males in the captive population. [28] [29]

As such, substantial effort has gone into increasing the birth rate in captive elephant populations. Due to the size, intelligence, and strong social bonds of elephants, moving elephants from facility to facility for the purpose of breeding can engender severe logistic hurdles and cause stress to the elephants moved, as well as the elephants present in the new facility. [17] It may be preferable to relocate young males, who would naturally disperse away from their herds of birth in the wild, as opposed to females, who would normally stay with their herd of birth for life in the wild. [4]

Because of the stress and logistics involved in moving elephants from one facility to another, some managers are turning to artificial insemination to produce offspring. [30] Semen may be collected from males in other collections or from wild males [31] to further increase the genetic diversity of the captive population. [32]

Hand-rearing

Successful hand-rearing of orphaned calves depends critically on the milk formula used. Human infant formula is commonly used, but requires supplementation with bovine colostrum (commercially available in substitute form), and lactobacillus to protect the gastrointestinal tract. To provide additional fat, desiccated coconut and butterfat are added, with vitamin and mineral supplements, in particular vitamin E, vitamin B, and calcium. Rice water strained from cooked rice and glutinous rice broth are useful and are added to the formula to combat diarrhea. Rice cereal, milled whole barley or oatmeal, desiccated coconut, and other ground solid foods are added to the milk of older calves to ease the transition to solid foods. [33]

Professor Niels Bolwig at Ibadan University, Nigeria, in 1963 successfully reared an orphaned infant elephant from a few days old by developing his own rich milk formula consisting of cows' milk and butter fat. This is believed to be the first successful rearing. Until then most rearing attempts had been unsuccessful due to diet intolerance.

Welfare

Elephants are complex animals with many varied welfare requirements in captivity. [4] Principles of animal welfare dictate that animals should be housed in appropriate environments with consideration for species-typical biology and behavior. [34]

Animal welfare concerns about elephants in captivity stem from the uniqueness of elephants' social structure, biology, size, and spatial requirements. [7] In the wild, elephants sometimes walk 50 miles a day, [7] while the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) in the United States recommends a minimum of 5400 ft2 (500 m2) of space per elephant in outdoor habitats for their member zoos. [26] Proponents of elephants in zoos argue that wild elephants walk long distances because of the necessity of finding water, food, or mates, but that captive elephants do not require the same amount of walking if resources are more readily available. [7]

In the wild, elephant herds (particularly those of African elephants) can be quite large. [4] The AZA requires their member facilities to house at least three females, two males, or three mixed-sex individuals in order to mimic wild herd structure, though this is much smaller than many wild herds. [26] In 2008, a study of mainly European and North American zoos found that one-fifth of elephants in these zoos lived alone or with only one other elephant and that the mean number of elephants held in these zoos was 4.28. [35] In recent years, there has been some progress in integrating smaller elephant herds across different zoos into larger groups, though advancement in this area is ongoing. [35]

There has been some effort to understand which behaviors in captive elephants indicate good welfare and which indicate welfare concerns. In 2015, the Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) in the United Kingdom developed a set of indicators that practitioners and oversight bodies can use to determine the state of an individual elephant's welfare in captivity. This report was compiled in response to an earlier government report that indicated that many elephants in UK zoos experienced issues with foot health, obesity, and stereotypies. Important indicators of welfare included: [36]

Health

Infectious diseases

Tuberculosis

According to a report published by the Center for Disease Control, in North America, approximately 2% of African, and 12% of Asian captive elephants are thought to be infected with tuberculosis. [37]

In 2012, two elephants in Tete d’Or Zoo, Lyon (France), were diagnosed with tuberculosis. Due to the threat of transmitting tuberculosis to other animals or visitors to the zoo, their euthanasia was initially ordered by city authorities but a court later overturned this decision. [38]

At an elephant sanctuary in Tennessee, a quarantined 54-year-old African elephant being treated for tuberculosis was considered to be the source of latent (inactive) tuberculosis infections in eight workers. [37] [39]

In 2018, a bronchoalveolar lavage technique was proposed for tuberculosis diagnosis in elephants. [40] This technique is safer to the operator, has a higher sensitivity, and is less prone to contamination than the traditional trunk wash approach.

Elephant endotheliotropic herpesvirus

Elephant endotheliotropic herpesvirus (EEHV) is a family of herpesviruses that have been known to cause the death of more than 100 young Asian elephant calves in the wild and in captivity since 1988. [41] In North America, EEHV has been responsible for 58% of the deaths of Asian elephants in captivity between the ages of 4 months and 15 years that were born between 1962 and 2007. [41] EEHV has also caused the death of Asian elephant calves in captivity in Europe [42] and Asia, [43] as well as wild calves. [44]

The first recognized fatal case of EEHV in an Asian elephant was identified at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., in 1995, but subsequent investigation of stored tissue samples found evidence of fatal cases of EEHV in captivity dating back to at least 1988. [45] Testing has shown that these viruses appears to be carried in latency (without symptoms) in most Asian and African elephant adults, and that these adults tend to become infectious when they experience stress or excitement, including after the birth of a calf. [41] [46] Asian elephant calves are extremely susceptible to the virus during the period after they have been weaned from their mother's milk, when they are no longer protected by maternal antibodies. [47] Active EEHV infection causes small nodules on the head and trunk, and inside the lungs of individuals with mild cases. [41]

In fatal attacks (usually caused by the EEHV 1A strain), [47] the virus acts quickly, usually causing death within one hour to seven days within the onset of symptoms when untreated. [48] Symptoms include lethargy, unwillingness to eat, lameness, colic, and diarrhea. [48] The virus causes widespread hemorrhaging of endothelial tissue. [41]

There is no cure for EEHV, but zoos have developed some treatments that have shown some effectiveness in suppressing the virus and preventing fatality. [47] The European Association of Zoos and Aquaria's (EAZA) treatment guidelines recommend administering fluid therapy, fresh plasma from adult elephants that have antibodies against the virus, and antiviral drugs including famciclovir, ganciclovir, or acyclovir. [49] Of elephants that have been treated for severe EEHV, there is an approximate 40% survival rate. [47]

Noninfectious diseases

Foot and musculoskeletal diseases

In 2006, a study found that 33% of North American zoos reported at least one elephant with a foot abnormality, 36% reported at least one elephant with arthritis, and 18% reported at least one case of lameness in their elephant populations within the previous year. [50]

Common foot problems among captive elephants include overgrown nails, soles, and cuticles, necrotic pododermatitis, the formation of abscesses, and split nails and soles. [4] Though these conditions do not usually cause mortality on their own, they are often the reason that captive facilities choose to euthanize their elephants due to quality of life concerns. [4] As such, many elephant facilities perform regular foot care in hopes of preventing serious, chronic foot problems. In the wild, elephants' feet are worn down as elephants walk, and the goal of captive foot care is to simulate this wearing-down effect. [4] Elephants in free contact or protected contact facilities can be trained to accept and assist with routine foot care, including nail filing and trimming of the foot pad. [4] Elephants that are not trained must be anesthetized to accept foot care, which brings an element of risk for elephant and handler alike. [4]

Common musculoskeletal problems include degenerative joint disease, osteoarthritis, trauma, and soft tissue strains. [51] Due to their large body mass and long life, elephants are thought to be especially prone to these problems as they age. [51] The relatively sedentary lifestyle of a captive elephant in comparison to its wild counterparts likely contributes to these issues. [51]

A 2016 study of North American zoos found that predictors of poor foot health included older age, more time spent on hard floors, less space in nighttime enclosures, and a high percentage of time spent in exhibits that allowed choice between being indoors or outdoors. [51] The same study found correlations between poor musculoskeletal health and more time spent on hard floors and lack of space in daytime exhibits. [51] It is thought that using soft sand on floors and providing access to grass, dirt, or sand outside, giving elephants increased space in their day and night enclosures, and avoiding large changes in temperature and humidity between indoor and outdoor spaces may improve foot and musculoskeletal health. [51]

Obesity

A 2016 study of North American zoos found that 74% of zoo elephants were overweight or obese. [52] The effects of obesity on elephants have not been widely studied, but based on research in other species, it may be correlated with higher instances of infertility, arthritis, and cardiovascular disease. [4]

Higher incidence of obesity in zoo elephants appears to be correlated with high diversity of food offered, less exercise, and a regular feeding schedule, suggesting that facilities that wish to lessen obesity in their elephant collection should walk their elephants frequently and feed them a few food types at unpredictable times of day. [52]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elephant</span> Largest living land animals

Elephants are the largest living land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant, the African forest elephant, and the Asian elephant. They are the only surviving members of the family Elephantidae and the order Proboscidea; extinct relatives include mammoths and mastodons. Distinctive features of elephants include a long proboscis called a trunk, tusks, large ear flaps, pillar-like legs, and tough but sensitive grey skin. The trunk is prehensile, bringing food and water to the mouth and grasping objects. Tusks, which are derived from the incisor teeth, serve both as weapons and as tools for moving objects and digging. The large ear flaps assist in maintaining a constant body temperature as well as in communication. African elephants have larger ears and concave backs, whereas Asian elephants have smaller ears and convex or level backs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">African forest elephant</span> African elephant species

The African forest elephant is one of the two living species of African elephant. It is native to humid tropical forests in West Africa and the Congo Basin. It is the smallest of the three living elephant species, reaching a shoulder height of 2.4 m. As with other African elephants, both sexes have straight, down-pointing tusks, which begin to grow once the animals reach 1–3 years old. The forest elephant lives in highly sociable family groups of up to 20 individuals. Since they forage primarily on leaves, seeds, fruit, and tree bark, they have often been referred to as the 'megagardener of the forest'; the species is one of many that contributes significantly to maintaining the composition, diversity and structure of the Guinean Forests of West Africa and the Congolese rainforests. Seeds of various plants will go through the elephant’s digestive tract and eventually pass through in the animal’s droppings, thus helping to maintain the spread and biodiversity of the forests.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Asian elephant</span> Species of mammal in the family Elephantidae

The Asian elephant, also known as the Asiatic elephant, is the only living species of the genus Elephas and is distributed throughout the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, from India in the west, Nepal in the north, Sumatra in the south, and to Borneo in the east. Three subspecies are recognised—E. m. maximus from Sri Lanka, E. m. indicus from mainland Asia and E. m. sumatranus from the island of Sumatra. Formerly, there was also the Syrian elephant or Western Asiatic elephant which was the westernmost population of the Asian elephant. This subspecies became extinct in ancient times. Skeletal remains of E. m. asurus have been recorded from the Middle East: Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey from periods dating between at least 1800 BC and likely 700 BC. It is one of only three living species of elephants or elephantids anywhere in the world, the others being the African bush elephant and African forest elephant. It is the second largest species of elephant after the African bush elephant.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Association of Zoos and Aquariums</span> North American nonprofit organization

The Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA), originally the American Association of Zoological Parks and Aquariums, is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 1924 and dedicated to the advancement of zoos and public aquariums in the areas of conservation, education, science, and recreation. AZA is headquartered in Silver Spring, Maryland, and accredits zoos. There were 238 accredited facilities as of 2019, primarily in the US, and also a handful in eleven other countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">African buffalo</span> Bovine species

The African buffalo is a large sub-Saharan African bovine. There are five subspecies that are recognized as being valid. Syncerus caffer caffer, the Cape buffalo, is the nominotypical subspecies, and the largest one, found in Southern and East Africa. S. c. nanus is the smallest subspecies, common in forest areas of Central and West Africa, while S. c. brachyceros is in West Africa and S. c. aequinoctialis is in the savannas of East Africa. The adult African buffalo's horns are its characteristic feature: they have fused bases, forming a continuous bone shield across the top of the head referred to as a "boss".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Musth</span> Condition in male elephants

Musth or must is a periodic condition in bull (male) elephants characterized by aggressive behavior and accompanied by a large rise in reproductive hormones.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oakland Zoo</span> Zoo in Oakland, California, United States

The Oakland Zoo is a zoo located in the Grass Valley neighborhood of Oakland, California, United States. Established on June 6, 1922, it is managed by the Conservation Society of California, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to the conservation of wildlife both locally and globally. The zoo is home to more than 850 native and exotic animals and is a member of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chester Zoo</span> Zoo in England

Chester Zoo is a zoo at Upton-by-Chester, Cheshire, England. Chester Zoo was opened in 1931 by George Mottershead and his family. It is one of the UK's largest zoos at 51 hectares. The zoo has a total land holding of approximately 160 hectares.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">African elephant</span> Genus comprising two living elephant species

African elephants are members of the genus Loxodonta comprising two living elephant species, the African bush elephant and the smaller African forest elephant. Both are social herbivores with grey skin, but differ in the size and colour of their tusks and in the shape and size of their ears and skulls.

Elephant crushing, or a training crush, is a method by which wild elephants can be tamed for domestication, using restriction in a cage, sometimes with the use of corporal punishment or negative reinforcement. This practice is condemned by a variety of animal-welfare groups as a form of animal cruelty.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Captive breeding</span> Of wild organisms, by humans

Captive breeding, also known as captive propagation, is the process of keeping plants or animals in controlled environments, such as wildlife reserves, zoos, botanic gardens, and other conservation facilities. It is sometimes employed to help species that are being threatened by the effects of human activities such as climate change, habitat loss, fragmentation, overhunting or fishing, pollution, predation, disease, and parasitism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Captivity (animal)</span> Animal being held by humans

Animal captivity is the confinement of domestic and wild animals. More specifically, animals that are held by humans and prevented from escaping are said to be in captivity. The term animal captivity is usually applied to wild animals that are held in confinement, but this term may also be used generally to describe the keeping of domesticated animals such as livestock or pets. This may include, for example, animals in farms, private homes, zoos, and laboratories. Animal captivity may be categorized according to the particular motives, objectives, and conditions of the confinement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Behavioral enrichment</span>

Behavioral enrichment is an animal husbandry principle that seeks to enhance the quality of captive animal care by identifying and providing the environmental stimuli necessary for optimal psychological and physiological well-being. Enrichment can either be active or passive, depending on whether it requires direct contact between the animal and the enrichment. A variety of enrichment techniques are used to create desired outcomes similar to an animal's individual and species' history. Each of the techniques used is intended to stimulate the animal's senses similarly to how they would be activated in the wild. Provided enrichment may be seen in the form of auditory, olfactory, habitat factors, food, research projects, training, and objects.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Woburn Safari Park</span> Safari park in Bedfordshire, England

Woburn Safari Park is a safari park located in Woburn, Bedfordshire, England. Visitors to the park can drive through exhibits, which contain species such as southern white rhino, elephants, tigers and black bears. It is part of the estates of the Duke of Bedford that also includes Woburn Abbey and its 3,000-acre (1,200 ha) deer park. The Safari Park itself covers 360 acres (150 ha).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zoo</span> Collection of wild animals

A zoo is a facility in which animals are kept within enclosures for public exhibition and often bred for conservation purposes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage</span> Elephant orphanage in Sri Lanka

Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage, is a captive breeding and conservation institute for wild Asian elephants located at Pinnawala village, 13 km (8.1 mi) northeast of Kegalle town in Sabaragamuwa Province of Sri Lanka. Pinnawala has the largest herd of captive elephants in the world. In 2023, there were 71 elephants, including 30 males and 41 females from 3 generations, living in Pinnawala.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">African bush elephant</span> Species of mammal

The African bush elephant, also known as the African savanna elephant, is one of two extant African elephant species and one of three extant elephant species. It is the largest living terrestrial animal, with bulls reaching a shoulder height of up to 3.96 m and a body mass of up to 10.4 t.

Elephant endotheliotropic herpesviruses (EEHV) or Elephantid betaherpesvirus 1 (ElHV-1) is a type of herpesvirus, which can cause a highly fatal hemorrhagic disease when transmitted to young Asian elephants. In African elephants, related forms of these viruses, which have been identified in wild populations, are generally benign, occasionally surfacing to cause small growths or lesions. However, some types of EEHV can cause a highly fatal disease in Asian elephants, which kills up to 80% of severely affected individuals. The disease can be treated with the rapid application of antiviral drugs, but this has only been effective in around a third of cases.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elephant communication</span> Communication between elephants

Elephants communicate with each other in various ways, including touching, visual displays, vocalisations, seismic vibrations, and semiochemicals.

Thomas B. Hildebrandt is a German veterinarian researcher dedicated to species conservation. He heads the Department of Reproduction Management at the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (IZW) in Berlin and holds a full professorship for Wildlife Reproduction Medicine at the veterinary faculty of the Freie Universität Berlin.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Biology, medicine, and surgery of elephants. Fowler, Murray E., Mikota, Susan K. (1st ed.). Ames, Iowa: Blackwell Pub. 2006. pp. 15–22. ISBN   978-0-470-34448-4. OCLC   212121534.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  2. ↑ "Elephants leave London". 2001-11-01. Retrieved 2020-10-16.
  3. 1 2 "Great Expectations". Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved 2020-10-16.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 Clubb, Ros; Mason, Georgia (2002). A review of the welfare of zoo elephants in Europe (PDF). Horsham, West Sussex: RSPCA.
  5. ↑ Zoo, Dallas. "Q&A: Dallas Zoo rescues Swaziland elephants | Dallas ZooHoo!" . Retrieved 2020-10-16.
  6. 1 2 Wiese, R. J.; Willis, K. (2006). "Population management of zoo elephants". International Zoo Yearbook. 40 (1): 80–87. doi:10.1111/j.1748-1090.2006.00080.x. ISSN   0074-9664.
  7. 1 2 3 4 Cohn, Jeffrey P. (2006). "Do Elephants Belong in Zoos?". BioScience. 56 (9): 714–717. doi: 10.1641/0006-3568(2006)56[714:DEBIZ]2.0.CO;2 .
  8. ↑ Campos-Arceiz, Ahimsa. "What should we do about the 15,000 Asian elephants still in captivity?". The Conversation. Retrieved 2020-10-16.
  9. ↑ Choudhury, A.; Lahiri Choudhury, D.K.; Desai, A.; Duckworth, J.W.; Easa, P.S.; Johnsingh, A.J.T.; Fernando, P.; Hedges, S.; Gunawardena, M.; Kurt, F.; et al. (2008). "Elephas maximus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2008: e.T7140A12828813. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2008.RLTS.T7140A12828813.en . Retrieved 16 January 2018.
  10. ↑ Thouless, C. R.; Dublin, H. T.; Blanc, Julian J.; Skinner, D. P.; Daniel, T. E.; Taylor, R. D.; Maisels, F.; Frederick, H. L.; Bouché, P.; IUCN/SSC African Elephant Specialist Group (2016), African Elephant Status Report 2016: an update from the African Elephant Database, Occasional Paper Series of the IUCN Species Survival Commission, vol. 60, ISBN   9782831718132
  11. ↑ "Royal Elephant Stable". Thai Elephant Conservation Center. Archived from the original on 9 March 2021. Retrieved 7 September 2014.
  12. ↑ "White elephant". Oxford English Dictionary. Archived from the original on September 8, 2014. Retrieved September 8, 2014.
  13. ↑ O'Connell, Caitlin (2007). The Elephant's Secret Sense: The Hidden Lives of the Wild Herds of Africa. New York City: Simon & Schuster. pp.  174, 184. ISBN   978-0-7432-8441-7.
  14. ↑ Erica Fudge, ed. (2004). Renaissance Beasts: Of Animals, Humans, and Other Wonderful Creatures. University of Illinois Press. pp. 172–173. ISBN   9780252091339.
  15. ↑ Evans, Kate E.; Harris, Stephen (2008). "Adolescence in male African elephants, Loxodonta africana, and the importance of sociality". Animal Behaviour. 76 (3): 779–787. doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2008.03.019. S2CID   53157803.
  16. ↑ Poole, Joyce H. (1987). "Rutting Behavior in African Elephants: the Phenomenon of Musth". Behaviour. 102 (3–4): 283–316. doi:10.1163/156853986X00171. ISSN   0005-7959.
  17. 1 2 Laws, Nicole; Ganswindt, Andre; Heistermann, Michael; Harris, Moira; Harris, Stephen; Sherwin, Chris (2007-09-17). "A Case Study: Fecal Corticosteroid and Behavior as Indicators of Welfare During Relocation of an Asian Elephant". Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science. 10 (4): 349–358. doi:10.1080/10888700701555600. ISSN   1088-8705. PMID   17970634. S2CID   46617133.
  18. ↑ Varma, S., and Ganguly, S. (2011). Captive Elephants in Bardia National Park, Nepal, Investigationsinto Population, Management, Welfare and a Review of Elephant Training by Working Elephant Programme of Asia (WEPA),and WWF Finland at Bardia Hattisar, Elephants in Captivity: CUPA/ ANCF –Occasional Report. No.18. Compassion Unlimited Plus Action (CUPA) and Asian Nature Conservation Foundation (ANCF), Bangalore, India http://asiannature.org/sites/default/files/OR%2018%20Captive%20elephants%20in%20Bardia%20National%20Park%20-Nepal.pdf
  19. ↑ Hausheer, Justine E. (2018-07-16). "Saving Myanmar's Timber Elephants". Cool Green Science. Retrieved 2020-10-16.
  20. ↑ Machemer, Theresa. "Retired Circus Elephants to Move to 2,500-Acre Wildlife Refuge Next Year". Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved 2020-10-16.
  21. 1 2 3 4 5 "Welfare Implications of Elephant Training". American Veterinary Medical Association. Retrieved 2020-10-15.
  22. ↑ "Elephant kills keeper at Pittsburgh zoo". old.post-gazette.com. Retrieved 2020-10-15.
  23. ↑ Ward, David (2002-03-19). "Elephant killed handler after he ignored warning". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 2020-10-15.
  24. ↑ Staff Reporter (2020-02-22). "Mahout killed by elephant". The Hindu. ISSN   0971-751X . Retrieved 2020-10-15.
  25. ↑ Brulliard, Karin. "Some of America's top zoos still use bullhooks on elephants. That's about to change". Washington Post. ISSN   0190-8286 . Retrieved 2020-10-15.
  26. 1 2 3 Association of Zoos and Aquariums. 2012. “AZA Standards for Elephant Management and Care.” Association of Zoos and Aquariums. https://www.speakcdn.com/assets/2332/aza_standards_for_elephant_management_and_care.pdf .
  27. ↑ Jackson, John; Childs, Dylan Z.; Mar, Khyne U.; Htut, Win; Lummaa, Virpi (2019-03-27). "Long-term trends in wild-capture and population dynamics point to an uncertain future for captive elephants". Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 286 (1899): 20182810. doi:10.1098/rspb.2018.2810. ISSN   0962-8452. PMC   6452069 . PMID   30900534.
  28. ↑ Brown, Janine L.; Paris, Stephen; Prado-Oviedo, Natalia A.; Meehan, Cheryl L.; Hogan, Jennifer N.; Morfeld, Kari A.; Carlstead, Kathy (2016-07-14). Cameron, Elissa Z. (ed.). "Reproductive Health Assessment of Female Elephants in North American Zoos and Association of Husbandry Practices with Reproductive Dysfunction in African Elephants (Loxodonta africana)". PLOS ONE. 11 (7): e0145673. Bibcode:2016PLoSO..1145673B. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0145673 . ISSN   1932-6203. PMC   4945061 . PMID   27416141.
  29. ↑ Saragusty, Joseph; Hermes, Robert; Göritz, Frank; Schmitt, Dennis L.; Hildebrandt, Thomas B. (2009). "Skewed birth sex ratio and premature mortality in elephants". Animal Reproduction Science. 115 (1–4): 247–254. doi:10.1016/j.anireprosci.2008.10.019. PMID   19058933.
  30. ↑ Brown, Janine L.; Göritz, Frank; Pratt-Hawkes, Nancy; Hermes, Robert; Galloway, Marie; Graham, Laura H.; Gray, Charlie; Walker, Susan L.; Gomez, Andres; Moreland, Rachel; Murray, Suzan (February 2004). "Successful artificial insemination of an Asian elephant at the National Zoological Park: Successful AI of an Asian Elephant". Zoo Biology. 23 (1): 45–63. doi:10.1002/zoo.10116.
  31. ↑ Hildebrandt, T.B.; Hermes, R.; Saragusty, J.; Potier, R.; Schwammer, H.M.; Balfanz, F.; Vielgrader, H.; Baker, B.; Bartels, P.; Göritz, F. (October 2012). "Enriching the captive elephant population genetic pool through artificial insemination with frozen-thawed semen collected in the wild". Theriogenology. 78 (6): 1398–1404. doi:10.1016/j.theriogenology.2012.06.014. PMID   22898009.
  32. ↑ Hermes, Robert; Saragusty, Joseph; Göritz, Frank; Bartels, Paul; Potier, Romain; Baker, Barbara; Streich, W. Jürgen; Hildebrandt, Thomas B. (2013-03-06). "Freezing African Elephant Semen as a New Population Management Tool". PLOS ONE. 8 (3): e57616. Bibcode:2013PLoSO...857616H. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0057616 . ISSN   1932-6203. PMC   3590205 . PMID   23483917.
  33. ↑ "Hand Raising and Diet Supplementation of Calves" - Colleen Kinzley and Karen Emanuelson Archived October 4, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
  34. ↑ "Animal Welfare: What Is It?". American Veterinary Medical Association. Retrieved 2020-10-15.
  35. 1 2 Rees, Paul A. (2009-01-01). "The Sizes of Elephant Groups in Zoos: Implications for Elephant Welfare". Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science. 12 (1): 44–60. doi:10.1080/10888700802536699. ISSN   1088-8705. PMID   19107664. S2CID   36001822.
  36. ↑ Asher, Lucy, Ellen Williams, and Lisa Yon. 2015. “Developing Behavioural Indicators, as Part of a Wider Set of Indicators, to Assess the Welfare of Elephants in UK Zoos.” Defra. http://sciencesearch.defra.gov.uk/Default.aspx?Menu=Menu&Module=More&Location=None&Completed=0&ProjectID=18866 .
  37. 1 2 Murphree, R; et al. (2011). "Elephant-to-human transmission of tuberculosis". Emerging Infectious Diseases. 17 (3): 366–371. doi: 10.3201/eid1703.101668 . PMC   3166032 . PMID   21392425.
  38. ↑ Anon (2 March 2013). "Victory for Brigitte Bardot as elephants are reprieved". The Telegraph. Retrieved 2 March 2013.
  39. ↑ Ghianni, T. (18 February 2011). "Elephant behind TB outbreak at Tennessee sanctuary". Reuters. Archived from the original on 30 January 2013. Retrieved 1 February 2013.
  40. ↑ Hermes, R.; Saragusty, J.; Moser, I.; Holtze, S.; Nieter, J.; Sachse, K.; Voracek, T.; Bernhard, A.; Bouts, T.; Göritz, F.; Hildebrandt, T. B. (March 2018). "Bronchoalveolar lavage for diagnosis of tuberculosis infection in elephants". Epidemiology and Infection. 146 (4): 481–488. doi:10.1017/S0950268818000122. ISSN   0950-2688. PMC   9134556 . PMID   29397050.
  41. 1 2 3 4 5 Long, Simon Y.; Latimer, Erin M.; Hayward, Gary S. (2016-02-24). "Review of Elephant Endotheliotropic Herpesviruses and Acute Hemorrhagic Disease". ILAR Journal. 56 (3): 283–296. doi:10.1093/ilar/ilv041. ISSN   1084-2020. PMC   4765743 . PMID   26912715.
  42. ↑ Pavulraj, Selvaraj; Eschke, Kathrin; Prahl, Adriane; Flügger, Michael; Trimpert, Jakob; van den Doel, Petra B.; Andreotti, Sandro; Kaessmeyer, Sabine; Osterrieder, Nikolaus; Azab, Walid (2019-09-26). "Fatal Elephant Endotheliotropic Herpesvirus Infection of Two Young Asian Elephants". Microorganisms. 7 (10): 396. doi: 10.3390/microorganisms7100396 . ISSN   2076-2607. PMC   6843339 . PMID   31561506.
  43. ↑ Angkawanish, Taweepoke; Nielen, Mirjam; Vernooij, Hans; Brown, Janine L.; van Kooten, Peter J. S.; van den Doel, Petra B.; Schaftenaar, Willem; Na Lampang, Kannika; Rutten, Victor P. M. G. (December 2019). "Evidence of high EEHV antibody seroprevalence and spatial variation among captive Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) in Thailand". Virology Journal. 16 (1): 33. doi: 10.1186/s12985-019-1142-8 . ISSN   1743-422X. PMC   6415343 . PMID   30866975.
  44. ↑ Zachariah, Arun; Zong, Jian-Chao; Long, Simon Y.; Latimer, Erin M.; Heaggans, Sarah Y.; Richman, Laura K.; Hayward, Gary S. (April 2013). "Fatal Herpesvirus Hemorrhagic Disease in Wild and Orphan Asian Elephants in Southern India". Journal of Wildlife Diseases. 49 (2): 381–393. doi:10.7589/2012-07-193. ISSN   0090-3558. PMC   3707512 . PMID   23568914.
  45. ↑ Richman, L. K. (1999-02-19). "Novel Endotheliotropic Herpesviruses Fatal for Asian and African Elephants". Science. 283 (5405): 1171–1176. Bibcode:1999Sci...283.1171R. doi:10.1126/science.283.5405.1171. PMID   10024244.
  46. ↑ Bennett, Laura; Dunham, Stephen; Yon, Lisa; Chapman, Sarah; Kenaghan, Megan; Purdie, Laura; Tarlinton, Rachael (2015-08-01). "Longitudinal study of Asian elephants, Elephas maximus, indicates intermittent shedding of elephant endotheliotropic herpesvirus 1 during pregnancy". Veterinary Record Open. 2 (1): e000088. doi:10.1136/vetreco-2014-000088. ISSN   2052-6113. PMC   4567181 . PMID   26392899.
  47. 1 2 3 4 "National Elephant Herpesvirus Laboratory". Smithsonian's National Zoo. 2016-06-21. Retrieved 2020-10-15.
  48. 1 2 Kochagul, Varankpicha; Srivorakul, Saralee; Boonsri, Kittikorn; Somgird, Chalermchart; Sthitmatee, Nattawooti; Thitaram, Chatchote; Pringproa, Kidsadagon (2018-03-16). "Production of antibody against elephant endotheliotropic herpesvirus (EEHV) unveils tissue tropisms and routes of viral transmission in EEHV-infected Asian elephants". Scientific Reports. 8 (1): 4675. Bibcode:2018NatSR...8.4675K. doi:10.1038/s41598-018-22968-5. ISSN   2045-2322. PMC   5856810 . PMID   29549315.
  49. ↑ EAZA, Elephant Taxon Advisory Group. 2015. “Emergency Care for Elephants Clinically Ill from Elephant Endotheliotropic Herpes Virus-Hemorrhagic Disease (EEHV-HD).”
  50. ↑ Lewis, Karen D.; Shepherdson, David J.; Owens, Terrah M.; Keele, Mike (2009). "A survey of elephant husbandry and foot health in North American zoos". Zoo Biology. 29 (2): 221–236. doi:10.1002/zoo.20291. PMID   20014111.
  51. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Miller, Michele A.; Hogan, Jennifer N.; Meehan, Cheryl L. (2016-07-14). Ryan, Sadie Jane (ed.). "Housing and Demographic Risk Factors Impacting Foot and Musculoskeletal Health in African Elephants [Loxodonta africana] and Asian Elephants [Elephas maximus] in North American Zoos". PLOS ONE. 11 (7): e0155223. Bibcode:2016PLoSO..1155223M. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0155223 . ISSN   1932-6203. PMC   4944946 . PMID   27415763.
  52. 1 2 Morfeld, Kari A.; Meehan, Cheryl L.; Hogan, Jennifer N.; Brown, Janine L. (2016-07-14). Ryan, Sadie Jane (ed.). "Assessment of Body Condition in African (Loxodonta africana) and Asian (Elephas maximus) Elephants in North American Zoos and Management Practices Associated with High Body Condition Scores". PLOS ONE. 11 (7): e0155146. Bibcode:2016PLoSO..1155146M. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0155146 . ISSN   1932-6203. PMC   4944958 . PMID   27415629.