Captive elephants
[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] 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.
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.
[15] When males are sexually active, they enter a state called musth, during which time they roam widely, searching for available females.
[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.
Human infant formula is commonly used, but requires supplementation with bovine colostrum (commercially available in substitute form), and lactobacillus to protect the gastrointestinal tract.
[36] 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.
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.
Important indicators of welfare included:[37] 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.
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.
[42] 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.
[42][47] 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.
[48] Active EEHV infection causes small nodules on the head and trunk, and inside the lungs of individuals with mild cases.
[48] 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.
[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] Common musculoskeletal problems include degenerative joint disease, osteoarthritis, trauma, and soft tissue strains.
[52] The same study found correlations between poor musculoskeletal health and more time spent on hard floors and lack of space in daytime exhibits.
[53] 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.
