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Cited by 24Animal Behavior and Welfare StudiesWildlife Ecology and ConservationPrimate Behavior and Ecology

Supporting zoo Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) welfare and herd dynamics with a more complex and expanded habitat

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Glaeser, Sharon S., Shepherdson, David, Lewis, Karen, Prado, Natalia, Brown, Janine L., Lee, Bob, Wielebnowski, Nadja·2021·Animals
DOI 10.3390/ani11092566PMC PMC8472536
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Abstract

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 across life stages. The habitat was designed to encourage activity, promote species-typical behaviors, support changing social dynamics, offer increased opportunities for choice, and provide biologically meaningful challenges. In this 4-year study, we monitored elephant health and welfare indicators throughout the transition and acclimation from the previous habitat to the new habitat. Several welfare indicators obtained through longitudinal hormone analyses, behavior assessments, and GPS measurement of walking distance and space use provided evidence that these goals were achieved. The elephants were more active and walked farther on a daily basis in the new habitat, with an average walking distance of over 15 km per day. A switch from primarily caretaker-delivered food to seeking food on their own indicates that the disbursement of food with less temporal and spatial predictability increased foraging opportunities, which better satisfies appetitive motivations important for psychological well-being. All individuals showed adaptive and normal adrenal responses to change and challenge, with the highest fecal glucocorticoid metabolite (FGM) concentrations and variability during the construction phase, and a return to previous baseline concentrations in the new habitat, suggesting they acclimated well to the new environment. The elephants expressed a diverse range of species-typical behaviors and demonstrated social dynamics of a healthy herd in both habitats with transitions of individuals through life stages. They exhibited more autonomy in choosing whom to associate with socially and also by choosing different aspects of their environment with regular indoor/outdoor access and extensive resource use in the new habitat. Findings indicate that the complexity and flexibility of the new habitat and habitat management has been effective in improving overall welfare by providing meaningful challenges and the opportunity to express appetitive behaviors, by offering choice in environmental conditions, and by providing the space and resource distribution to support evolving herd dynamics and increased social equity for individuals.

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  • These improvements include increased movement, reduced stereotypies, improved feeding strategies/opportunities, consideration of male social needs, increased activity and outdoor time, and end of bullhook use.

    “These areas include increased movement (Glaeser et al., 2021), reduced stereotypies (Finch et al., 2020;Glaeser et al., 2021), improved feeding strategies/ opportunities (Glaeser et al., 2021;Lasky et al., 2020) consideration of male social needs (Readyhough et al., 2022), increased activity and outdoor time (Glaeser et al., 2021), and end of bullhook use (AZA, 2022”

    From Continuing challenges of elephant captivity: the captive environment, health issues, and welfare implications (2024) · cites this paper as Glaeser et al., 2021

    Results §3.4 reports increased locomotion and active behavior, reduced repetitive pacing, and greater use of food-delivery resources in the new habitat. Results §3.2 reports substantially greater outdoor access, but does not establish that the elephants spent more time outdoors than in the previous habitat. The male social-needs and bullhook claims are cited to other sources, not Glaeser et al. (LLM, conf=0.84)

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Research works printed but not linked: 11

  1. [27]Shepherdson D.J. Mellen J.D. Hutchins M. Second Nature: Environmental Enrichment for Captive Animals Shepherdson D.J. Mellen J.D. Hutchins M. Smithsonian Institution Press Washington, DC, USA 1998
  2. [45]Mench J.A. Environmental enrichment and the importance of exploratory behavior Second Nature: Environmental Enrichment for Captive Animals Shepherdson D.J. Mellen J.D. Hutchins M. Smithsonian Institution Press Washington, DC, USA 1998 30 46
  3. [71]Glaeser S.S. Assessing Well-Being of Asian Elephants (Elephas maximus) through Major Events and Transitions, with Development and Aging, and Husbandry Changes Dissertation Portland State University Portland, OR, USA 2020
  4. [90]Fowler J. Cohen L. Jarvis P. Practical Statistics for Field Biology 2nd ed. John Wiley & Sons New York, NY, USA 1999
  5. [131]Carlstead K. Determining the causes of stereotypic behaviors in zoo carnivores: Toward appropriate enrichment strategies Second Nature: Environmental Enrichment for Captive Animals Shepherdson D.J. Mellen J.D. Hutchins M. Smithsonian Institution Press Washington, DC, USA 1998 172 183
  6. [133]Mason G. Veasey J. Chapter 11: How should the psychological welfare of zoo elephants be investigated An Elephant in the Room: The Science and Well Being of Elephants in Captivity Forthman D. Kane L. Waldau P. Tufts University Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine’s Center for Animals and Public Policy North Grafton, MA, USA 2008
  7. [141]Gunawardene M. Jayasinghe L. Janaka H. Weerakoon D. Wickramanayake E. Fernando P. Social Organisation of Elephants in Southern Sri Lanka Proceedings of the Symposium for Human-Elephant Relationships and Conflicts Colombo, Sri Lanka 19–21 September 2003
  8. [144]Lee P.C. Moss C. The social context for learning and behavioural development among wild African elephants Mammallian Social Learning: Comparative and Ecological Perspectives, Zoological Society of London, Symposium 73 Box H.O. Gibson K.R. Cambridge University Press Cambridge, UK 1999 102 125
  9. [155]Kagan R. Veasey J. Challenges of zoo animal welfare Wild Mammals in Captivity: Principles and Techniques for Zoo Management 2nd ed. Kleiman D.G. Thompson K.V. Baer C.K. University of Chicago Press Chicago, IL, USA 2010 11 21
  10. [162]Rauvola R.S. Aging, Control, & Well-Being: A Longitudinal Investigation of Actual, Perceived, and Enacted Control across Contexts Ph.D. Thesis Saint Louis University St. Louis, MO, USA 2020
  11. [166]Carlstead K. Effects of captivity on the behavior of wild mammals Wild Mammals in Captivity: Principles and Techniques 1st ed. Kleiman D.G. Allen M.E. Harris H. Thompson K.V. Lumpkin S. University of Chicago Press Chicago, IL, USA 1996 317 333

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Authors
Glaeser, S. S., Shepherdson, D., Lewis, K., Prado, N., Brown, J. L., Lee, B., & Wielebnowski, N.
Affiliations
  • Oregon Zoo (US)
  • Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute (US)
Corresponding author
Glaeser, Sharon S.
ORCID
Venue
Animals
Publisher
MDPI AG
Published
2021-08-31
Volume
11
Issue
9
Pages
2566
ISSN
2076-2615 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.3390/ani11092566
PMC
PMC8472536
OpenAlex
W3197033308
Cited by
24
References
147
Citations by year
2025: 7 · 2024: 7 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 7
FWCI
4.85
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Animals (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, other-oa)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Veterinary › Small Animals › Animal Behavior and Welfare Studies
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Ecology › Wildlife Ecology and Conservation
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Primate Behavior and Ecology
Keywords
Asian elephant, zoo animal welfare, habitat design, herd dynamics, fecal glucocorticoid metabolites, species-typical behavior, foraging behavior, space use, walking distance, social equity, captive elephants

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