Population management of zoo elephants

Wiese, Robert J.; Willis, Kevin

doi:10.1111/j.1748-1090.2006.00080.x

Cited by 34 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…Despite the well-recognized need to establish self-sustaining populations of captive elephants [Wiese and Willis, 2006], less than 20% of Asian and 10% of African elephants have produced offspring [Keele, 2005;Olson, 2006]. Difficulties associated with moving females to breeding centers and occasional sexual incompatibilities have limited propagation success, but there also are reproductive problems of presumed physiological origin.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Results of a second survey to assess the reproductive status of female Asian and African elephants in North America

2010

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Surveys are being conducted to monitor the reproductive health of elephants managed by the TAG/SSP. This study summarizes results of a 2005 survey and compares data to one conducted in 2002. Surveys were returned for 100% and 79.0% of Asian and African elephants, respectively. Of those, 79.3% of Asian and 92.1% of African elephants had weekly progestagen data to assess ovarian cyclicity. For Asian elephants, acyclicity rates were similar between the 2002 and 2005 surveys (13.3% versus 10.9%), whereas irregular cycling increased in 2005 (2.6% versus 7.6%), respectively. For African elephants, the percentages of both acyclicity (22.0% versus 31.2%) and irregular cycling females (5.2% versus 11.8%) increased. In both species, ovarian inactivity was more prevalent in the older age categories (>30 years of age), but for African elephants also occurred in the reproductive aged groups. Reproductive tract pathologies did not account for the majority of acyclicity problems. Several females changed cyclicity status between the two surveys, including from noncycling to cycling, suggesting this is not an irreversible condition. However, seven African females went from cycling to abnormal or no cyclic activity. In summary, the incidence of ovarian acyclicity in Asian elephants is low and stable, but appears to be increasing in African females. These findings reinforce the need for long-term reproductive monitoring programs and continuous reproductive surveys, even for females not being considered for breeding. With more data we hope to determine what factors are related to changes in ovarian status and how to reverse the trend towards acyclicity.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Results of a second survey to assess the reproductive status of female Asian and African elephants in North America

2010

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“…Furthermore, at present, 68.1% of Asian and 30.3% of African elephant populations are considered postreproductive; i.e., ≥35 years old. It has been hypothesized that if reproductive rates are not increased significantly, the North American elephant populations will become demographically extinct within a few decades [Olson and Wiese, 2000; Faust et al, 2006; Wiese and Willis, 2006].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Results of the third reproductive assessment survey of north American Asian (Elephas maximus) and African (Loxodonta africana) female elephants

2011

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A written survey assessed reproductive status of female Asian and African elephants in AZA/SSP facilities in 2008, and data were compared to surveys conducted in 2002 and 2005. Results showed that ovarian acyclicity rates across the surveys remained unchanged for Asian (13.3, 10.9 and 11.1%) and African (22.1, 31.2 and 30.5%) elephants, respectively (P > 0.05), but were higher overall for African compared to Asian elephants (P < 0.05). In 2008, the percentages of Asian and African elephants with irregular cycles (14.3 and 15.8%) and irregular + no cycles (25.4 and 46.4%) was similar to 2005 (7.6 and 11.8%; 18.5 and 43.0%), but were increased compared to 2002 (2.6 and 5.2%; 16.0 and 27.3%), respectively (P < 0.05). For both species, ovarian acyclicity increased with age (P < 0.05). Reproductive tract pathologies did not account for the majority of acyclicity, although rates were higher in noncycling females (P < 0.05). Bull presence was associated with increased cyclicity rates (P < 0.05) for Asian (92.5 vs. 58.3%) and African (64.9 vs. 57.8%) elephants compared to females at facilities with no male, respectively. Cyclicity rates were higher for Asian (86.8 vs. 65.2%) and African (67.9 vs. 56.7%) elephants managed in free compared to protected contact programs (P < 0.05), respectively. Geographical facility location had no effect on cyclicity (P > 0.05). In summary, incidence of ovarian cycle problems continues to predominantly affect African elephants. Although percentages of acyclicity did not increase between 2005 and 2008, 42.2% Asian and 30.2% African females were no longer being hormonally monitored; thus, reproductive cycle abnormalities could be worse than current data suggest.

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“…Subadult bachelor males have been observed to spend approximately half of their time in close proximity to each other (< 30 m) and half alone (Wood, 2017). It is known that elephants in zoos enter puberty earlier than their wild counterparts (Taylor & Poole, 1998), with bull calves as young as 4 years of age beginning puberty and bulls as early as 9 or 10 years of age breeding and successfully siring offspring (Spinage, 1994;Rees, 2004;Wiese & Willis, 2006).…”

Section: Adolescence and Dispersal In Zoosmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As importation of wild elephants became unfeasible for legislative and ethical reasons, zoos recognized that managing selfsustaining populations of elephants through reproduction was the only way to continue to maintain elephants in zoos (Wiese & Willis, 2006;Schmidt & Kappelhof, 2019). Breeding of elephants has proved challenging, with problems relating to fertility (Brown, 2000;Hermes et al, 2004), dystocia (Hildebrandt et al, 2006) and calf survivorship (Taylor & Poole, 1998;Mar et al, 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Facilitating the social behaviour of bull elephants in zoos

Hartley

Wood

Yon

2019

International Zoo Yearbook

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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 more complex and challenging to build facilities and manage groups of elephants in ways that allow fission–fusion herd dynamics and give the elephants choice over their environment. For bulls, this is further complicated by their potential strength and aggressive behaviour. To advance the development of best‐practice management for zoo elephants and achieve high standards of welfare, it is necessary to improve our understanding of the social and behavioural needs of bull elephants, and implement radical and innovative solutions to their care. In this paper we (1) consider how the social behaviour of bull elephants is addressed in zoos, comparing their social management with their behaviour in the wild, (2) contribute novel preliminary data about how these issues are addressed, and (3) propose some new approaches to the management of bull elephants in zoos for the future.

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Population management of zoo elephants

Cited by 34 publications

References 17 publications

Results of a second survey to assess the reproductive status of female Asian and African elephants in North America

Results of a second survey to assess the reproductive status of female Asian and African elephants in North America

Results of the third reproductive assessment survey of north American Asian (Elephas maximus) and African (Loxodonta africana) female elephants

Facilitating the social behaviour of bull elephants in zoos

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