The chaining of elephants at night is a common management strategy in zoos, yet the costs and benefits of such a strategy are relatively unknown. A study of three unchained female African elephants was undertaken to document their nocturnal behavior. The subjects were observed between the hours of 1800 and 0800 for 10 weeks in the summer of 1992 (total of 172 hr) and 14 weeks in the summer of 1994 (total of 153 hr). Scan data were collected every 5 min to gather information on activity budgets, social proximity, and space utilization. All-occurrence data were collected on social and non-social behaviors. In each year of the study, the subjects spent equivalent amounts of time eating, lying, standing, and walking. Additionally, subjects spent half of their time within one body length of another animal and utilized all three available enclosures. Social and nonsocial behaviors were frequent, and these data plus the activity profiles reveal the animals generally were most active between the hours of 1800 and 2400 and 0600 and 0700. The findings suggest that the use of no restraints is currently an effective strategy for this elephant group. The high activity levels observed during many of the early evening hours suggest that zoos could permit increased activity and social interactions by extending the hours when the elephants are unchained.

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The behaviour and serum Cortisol concentrations of three captive female African elephants (Loxodonta africana) were studied to determine whether their stereotypic swaying was more prevalent before regularly scheduled events in the elephants’ routine, and whether the elephants that exhibited more stereotyped swaying had lower mean serum cortisol concentrations. Behavioural data were collected during hour-long observations balanced across three periods, and during 15-min observations prior to the elephants being moved to different portions of their enclosure. Observational data were collected using instantaneous focal sampling of behaviours every 30s. Serum cortisol measures were obtained through weekly blood withdrawal from the elephants’ ears. Of the three elephants, two exhibited stereotyped swaying, which accounted for a mean of 0.4% of the scans during the hour-long observations and a mean of 18% of the scans prior to the elephants being moved between different parts of the enclosure. Swaying was highly variable among the individual elephants during both categories of observations. Additionally, both elephants swayed more prior to moving in the afternoon than prior to moving in the morning. Analyses of serum cortisol concentrations indicated that each elephant had a different mean cortisol level, which did not clearly correspond with the expression of swaying. The findings indicate that a rigidly scheduled management event may elicit stereotyped swaying in the studied elephants. Future research should document the behavioural and physiological effects of an altered management routine to improve captive elephant welfare.