Captive Elephant Care by Stress Management Nilanjan Das, Nilansu Das, Ratan Gachhui, Janine Brown, Susan Mikota, Jacob V. Cheeran, SubrataPal chowdhury, Ujjwal K. Bhattacharya. India harbours more than 20% of the captive elephant population of Asia housed in various temples, zoos and forest camps. Captive Elephants are known to aid human civilization for a long time. These captive elephants are an indispensable workforce, keeping a constant vigil against poaching, illegal felling of trees, depredation of crop and wild elephant driving operations to reduce human elephant conflict (HEC) round the year, as well as tourism in reserve forests and national parks. Management of captive elephants depends largely on the traditional knowledge and skills of mahouts, which has faced a sharp decline over a few decades because of invasion of alternate lucrative professions. Conditions leading to physical, physiological and psychological stress of these captive elephants need to be identified for better management practice. With the advent of modern science we now have the tools at hand to scientifically evaluate the well being of the captive elephants. Non-invasive measurement of urinary cortisol level is a well-accepted indicator of acute stress. Any condition leading to an elevated urinary cortisol is identified as “stressful” to these gentle giants. Stress is a result of a series of complex internal chemical reactions that occur in response to certain events and situations. All animals including humans have evolved defensive systems that protect them from dangers, which threaten their existence. One of these systems is the stress mechanism. Stress conditions in the captive elephants are primarily due to its forceful adaptation in different environment and role. The complex social behavior of the elephants needs to be further researched upon for a better understanding of their management. Stress-related studies of captive elephants may actually help us to understand elephant behavior as well as the need to devise scientifically designed management policies. Stress related behaviors are found in both male and female elephants although reasons, which cause stress, are not well understood. We have classified stress of captive elephants primarily into 3 categories: viz. Physiological stress, Physical stress and psychological stress. Musth in adult males and pregnancy and calf rearing in female elephants are examples of physiological stress whereas housing (living conditions in camps), workload and injuries and disabilities are the examples of physical stress. Psychological stress may be caused during isolation, weaning and improper behavior on the part of the mahout to these highly social and intelligent animals. |
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