CoChat
Sign Up
Cited by 18Animal Behavior and ReproductionAnimal Behavior and Welfare StudiesPrimate Behavior and Ecology

Physical and behavioral indicators associated with hormonal changes during musth in zoo-housed and free-ranging Asian elephants (Elephas maximus)

Open access
LaDue, Chase A., Hunt, Kathleen E., Samaraweera, M.G. Sachintha M., Vandercone, Rajnish P.G., Kiso, Wendy K., Freeman, Elizabeth W.·2022·Theriogenology Wild
DOI 10.1016/j.therwi.2022.100011
Open this paper in CoChat — free accountOpen PDF

Abstract

In-situ and ex-situ Asian elephant populations are threatened with extinction, and male elephants pose unique challenges to long-term sustainability. The heightened sexual state of “musth” is accompanied by a suite of physical, behavioral and physiological changes. Furthermore, musth is unique to male elephants and requires special consideration when developing short- and long-term management strategies for elephants in the wild and in human care. The purpose of this study was to identify associations between fecal hormone metabolites [fecal androgen metabolites, FAM; fecal glucocorticoid metabolites, FGM; and fecal triiodothyronine (T3) metabolites, FT3] and visible musth indicators [temporal gland secretions (TGS) and urine dribbling (UD)], and behavioral changes around musth. From fecal samples collected non-invasively from wild elephants in Wasgamuwa National Park, Sri Lanka, and zoo-housed elephants in the United States, we hypothesized that (1) TGS and/or UD would be associated with changes in FAM, FGM, and/or FT3 concentrations; (2) variation in fecal hormone metabolites would be associated with increased locomotion and chemosensory behavior, and decreased foraging; and (3) relationships we identified would be similar between wild and zoo-housed elephants. We found that FAM concentrations changed significantly with TGS and UD activity in both wild and zoo elephants. Further while FGM concentrations were higher with increased TGS and UD in zoo elephants, the opposite pattern occurred in wild elephants. We did not identify substantial change in FT3 concentrations with TGS/UD activity. Behavioral changes in zoo elephants were significantly associated with FAM concentration as predicted, but these relationships were more difficult to identify in wild elephants due to lower sample availability. Further, FGM concentration was directly related to time spent locomoting in zoo elephants, but no other apparent association existed between FGM concentration with other behaviors in zoo elephants, or in any behaviors in wild elephants. Likewise, we did not report associations between FT3 and any behaviors we measured. This study contributes to our understanding of the complex response patterns that male Asian elephants exhibit around musth, and it provides another example of complementary in-situ–ex-situ research that can be directly applied to improve the well-being of elephants and other wildlife.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1016/j.therwi.2022.100011

Cites

83 of 84 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • Captive musth males increase their movement and overall activity even though they remain constrained by enclosures.

    “Captive musth males also increase their movement and overall activity even though they remain constrained by their enclosures (LaDue et al., 2022a).”

    From Continuing challenges of elephant captivity: the captive environment, health issues, and welfare implications (2024) · cites this paper as LaDue et al., 2022a

    The Results (§3.4; page unavailable) report that, in zoo-housed elephants, androgen levels associated with musth were positively related to locomotion and chemosensory behavior. The paper also notes that zoos afford smaller spaces, supporting the enclosure context. It did not measure overall activity, so that broader part of the claim is not established. (LLM, conf=0.82)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Captive males appear to have an elevated stress response during musth compared to free-ranging males, though caution is urged due to sampling issues.

    “Unlike free-ranging male elephants, captive males appear to have an elevated stress response during musth, although LaDue et al. (2022a) urge caution when interpreting wild-zoo differences due to sampling issues.”

    From Continuing challenges of elephant captivity: the captive environment, health issues, and welfare implications (2024) · cites this paper as LaDue et al., 2022a

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Research works printed but not linked: 1

  1. D. Olson, Elephant Husbandry Resource Guide, Allen Press, Lawrence, KS, 2004.

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Related

Authors
LaDue, C. A., Hunt, K. E., Samaraweera, M. G. S. M., Vandercone, R. P. G., Kiso, W. K., & Freeman, E. W.
Affiliations
  • George Mason University (US)
  • Smithsonian Institution (US)
  • Rajarata University of Sri Lanka (LK)
Corresponding author
LaDue, Chase A.
ORCID
Venue
Theriogenology Wild
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2022
Volume
1
Pages
100011
ISSN
2773-093X (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1016/j.therwi.2022.100011
OpenAlex
W4309494165
Cited by
18
References
83
Citations by year
2026: 5 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 7 · 2023: 3
FWCI
2.69
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Theriogenology Wild (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • George Mason University
  • Idea Wild
  • Cosmos Club
  • Animal Behavior Society
  • Explorers Club
  • National Geographic Society
  • American Society of Mammalogists
  • Virginia Academy of Science
  • International Elephant Foundation
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics › Animal Behavior and Reproduction
  • Health Sciences › Veterinary › Small Animals › Animal Behavior and Welfare Studies
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Primate Behavior and Ecology
Keywords
musth, Asian elephant, fecal glucocorticoid metabolites, locomotion, foraging behavior, chemosensory behavior, wild elephants

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review