Compromised Survivorship In Zoo Elephants

摘要

Wild animals can experience poor welfare when held captive (1), an effect with ethical and practical implications. In zoos, the welfare of African elephants (Loxodonta qfricana) and Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) has long caused concern. Infanticide, Herpes, tuberculosis, lameness, infertility, and stereotypic behavior are prevalent (2), and zoo elephant populations are not self-sustaining without importation (3). We com-piled data from over 4500 individ-uals to compare survivorship in zoos with protected populations in range countries. Data representing about half the global zoo population (1960 to 2005) came from European "studbooks" and the European Elephant Group (4). We focused on females as relevant to population viability (N= 786, both wild-caught and captive-bom; 302 African and 484 Asian). African elephants in Amboseli National Park, Kenya (N= 1089), and Asian. elephants in the Burmese logging industry (Myanma Timber Enter-prise, M.T.E., N = 2905, wild-caught and captive-bom) acted as well-provisioned reference popula-tions [for details, see (2) and (5)].