Stereotypic Behaviour in Elephants
Stereotypic behaviour is undesirable in zoos, especially when it occurs in large sentient mammals such as elephants because there is evidence that it is often linked to poor welfare conditions and suboptimal management. Elephant managers make great efforts to prevent, or at least reduce, the performance of stereotypic behaviours and this is perceived as beneficial […]
From left to right all through the night: Characteristics of lying rest in zoo elephants
Despite increased research during the past years, many characteristics of resting behavior in elephants are still unknown. For example, there is only limited data suggesting elephants express longer lying bouts and increased total nightly lying durations on soft substrates as compared to hard surfaces. Additionally, it has not been investigated how frequently elephants change body […]
Behavioral characterization of musth in Asian elephants (Elephas maximus): defining progressive stages of male sexual behavior in in-situ and ex-situ populations
Complementary studies of wild and zoo-housed animals offer insight into behavioral variation across a range of conditions including the context under which various behaviors evolved in natural settings. This information can be used to improve the sustainability of in-situ and ex-situ populations and enhance the well-being of individuals. Managed ex-situ populations are critical to the […]
Supporting Zoo Asian Elephant (Elephas maximus) Welfare and Herd Dynamics with a More Complex and Expanded Habitat
Ensuring good health and welfare is an increasingly important consideration for conservation of endangered species, whether free-ranging or managed to varying degrees under human care. The welfare-based design of a new habitat for Asian elephants at the Oregon Zoo focused on meeting the elephants’ physical, physiological, psychological, and social needs 24 h a day and […]
Elephants Under Human Care: The Behaviour, Ecology, and Welfare of Elephants in Captivity
This book draws together, for the first time, the published research on the behaviour, ecology and welfare of elephants living in zoos, circuses, logging camps and other captive environments in a single comprehensive volume. It takes a multi-disciplinary approach, considering the work of zoo biologists, animal behaviour and welfare scientists, veterinarians, philosophers, zoo educators, tourism […]
Physiological measure of animal welfare in relation to semi-captive African Elephant (Loxodonta africana) interaction programs
Elephant interaction programs, specifically ones that provide elephant back riding, have come under public scrutiny, and little information exists to show whether these activities affect animal welfare. This study examined the impact of human interactions and ride-based activities on physiological stress-related indicators in African elephants. Fifteen trained semi-captive elephants, as well as free-ranging elephants roaming […]
Serum cortisol concentrations associated with artificial insemination events in an African elephant (Loxodonta africana)
Elephants are among the most charismatic and controversial species in modern zoo collections. Advanced cognitive and emotional capabilities have been attributed to elephants. As a result, good zoo management includes monitoring and enhancing the well-being of individual animals. To this purpose, we have assessed the serum cortisol concentration (SCC) of an adult female African elephant […]
Facilitating the social behaviour of bull elephants in zoos
In the wild, bull elephants socialize with conspecifics of all ages and both sexes, and young bulls develop social bonds with other elephants which will be sustained throughout their lives. Significant progress has been made towards providing an environment that facilitates social behaviour and multi-generational family structure for female elephants in zoos. However, it is […]
Influence of male presence on female Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) behaviour in captivity
The maintenance of natural behaviour in captivity is relevant for optimizing animal welfare and reproductive efficiency. In captivity, few studies have evaluated the male´s influence on the behaviour of Asian females’ elephants (Elephas maximus). Therefore, we investigated foraging, standing, elimination, vocalization, courtship, mating and stereotypic behaviours in four female Asian elephants after the recent introduction […]
Potential Impact of Construction Noise on Selected Zoo Animals
In anticipation of a major construction project in an urban New Zealand zoo, a study was initiated to assess the response to construction noise of selected animal species (elephant, giraffe, emu and alligator) previously observed to be sensitive to this kind of noise. The overall aim was to detect any signs of aversive responses to […]