Zoo elephant welfare has only comprised a small part of our research, but it’s generated considerable interest and controversy. We started by chance: in 2001 Georgia was offered post doc funds, sponsored by the UK RSPCA and Federation of UK Zoos (now BIAZA), allowing her to employ Ros Clubb.  Unfortunately, the RSPCA and Federation then fell out, so that the final report was RSPCA-sponsored only. This led to rather unfair accusations of bias. However, there were valid criticisms of the report too: zoo data had been analysed without first checking them for errors, and zoo elephants’ longevity estimated from dead animals only. Ros and Georgia therefore corrected and updated the data over the next few years (unfunded work that was squeezed into evenings and weekends!), and re-analysed them using survivorship analyses.

Marcus Rowcliffe and Khyne Mar joined as collaborators in 2004, as did Phyllis Lee and Cynthia Moss in 2006.  Our findings -- now based on 4500 animals -- were published in Science in 2008 (PDF; see also Supporting Materials) and Animal Welfare in 2009 (PDF), the latter discussing what we think causes zoo elephants’ poor survivorship. These publications spawned new accusations, at least from some in the North American zoo community: for our responses to these, click HERE (Word Doc).

We hope that ultimately zoo elephants’ problems will be fully acknowledged, and tackled in an effective, evidence-based manner. Note that BIAZA has been a trail-blazer here, revising their elephant husbandry standards with welfare a priority, and funding and supporting a survey of zoo elephant welfare across the UK and Eire.

Podcasts

• Science Podcast, Dec. 12, 2008. "Compromised Survivorship in Zoo Elephants". Visit Site | Download MP3
• CBC Radio's Quirks and Quarks, Dec. 13, 2008. "Captive Elements". Visit Site | Download MP3