BearWorks
Articles by College of Agriculture Faculty Darr College of Agriculture
2003
Are Captive Elephants Important to Conservation
Heidi S. Riddle
Bets Rasmussen
Dennis L. Schmitt Missouri State University
Follow this and additional works at: https://bearworks.missouristate.edu/articles-coa
Recommended Citation Riddle, H. S., B. Rasmussen, and D. L. Schmitt. "Are captive elephants important to conservation." Gajah 22 (2003): 57-61.
This article or document was made available through BearWorks, the institutional repository of Missouri State University. The work contained in it may be protected by copyright and require permission of the copyright holder for reuse or redistribution. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Are coplive elephonis importqnl to conservqtion?
Heidi S. Riddle, Bets Rasmussen and Dennis I-. Schrnitt
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Introduction
The value of captive elephants Detailed knowledge of inter-species interactions is useful to conservation efforts. Currently in North America, there are about 280 captive Asian elephants. The question is often asked: "Do caPtive Captive elephants provide opportunities for conservation. elephants truly benefit their wild counterParts?" awareness whether it is Captive elephants raise public - about the animal itself, or about the challenges facing wild We feel that the answer is and will present evidence from 1as elephants such as human-elephant conflict and the need to specific areas to reinforce our answer. identify and support protected areas. Public awareness, in turn, helps drive important public policies on consetvation Captive elephants serve as good will ambassadots for their and habitat protection, and also provides imPortant wild counterparts. Elephants capture human attention in opportunities for fundraising. multifaceted ways. The public and young Potential scientists, are drawn to this charismatic mammal. Every day, elephants Financial support for conservation comes not only from in facilities of all kinds plant important seeds of conservation people who experience captive wildlife exhibits, but also from in fertile minds, creating concern and raising consciousness the organizztions who exhibit captive elephants. Zoos, of the world's greatest land animal. If we are to teach people circuses, wildlife parks and exhibitors are uniquely the impottance of conservation, we have to reach them in Private able not only to communicate important consel\ration as many ways as possible. messages, but also to raise funds for conservation thtough special fundraisers, gate Proceeds and even from general Captive elephants provide an opportunitl'for people to learn revenues. N{ember organizations from gtouPs like the more about elephants. Education serves conservation, and International E,lephant Foundation, which comprise both that education take s man'1' forms. Ultimate\', the more people commercial and non-commercial exhibitors, come together know about elephants the more likell' the1, are to care about to support lmPottant conservation and scientific study what happens to tbem as a species. Elephants are a ke1'stone proJects. species with important ecological interactions with other fauna and flora. The study and conservation o[ a keystone Captive elephants aid in scientihc study which can be applied species allows manl' other smaller species to be helped. in the field. Captive elephants help validate field techniques used in conservation. F'or instance, in a carefullt'controlled DNA Heidi S. Riddle experiment using captive elephants, dung extracted sarnples Riddle's Elephant and Wildlife Sanctuar)', was compared to blood extracted DNA. These paired that allows reliable Post Office Box 715, sl-rowed that dung is a source of DNA et Dur'g Greenbrier, Arkansas 72058, USA and noninvasive genotl'ping (Fernando a/',2003). and in-rportant E-mail: elephantsanctuarr'@all tel.net extractetl DNA fron-r rvild elephants is a useful t()ol to ans\\'er some consen'zrtion questions, such as genetic Prof. L. E. L. (Bets) Rasmussen diversitf in sn-rall or isolatecl populations. Departtnent of Environrrcntal & Biotnolccular Ststctns kr intinrateh' C)Gl School of Science & fingineering, OtlSU, Captive elepl-rents oiict unique oppottunities function. Nlr-rch has bee n 20,000 N\\ \\alker Roecl, Beavertorr, unclcrstentl hos' tl'rese anitlals ancl ()reson 97()t)(r, USA learnetl :tbout elephant phvsiologr', biologv thc abilitv t<-, be close to clptive e lephal-rts. E-n-rai[: [email protected] u comrnrrnication bt This [rr-r
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communicatior-r it is ottcn neccssafl to stuclt' ()nc sc.nsor! Lrut rnight bc an individual elephant problern which rna.r. be nrodalifl'at a time in an up-close context. Thus captive elcphants depenc{e nt on tbat inclividualt gender or hormonal state, ()r allow a startins point for collecting basjc information about even the time o[ year. Such cletailed knou'ledge is important how elephants communicate. A substantral amount oF our if specific biocbemical information, such as the identitl, of understanclins about the details of elephant communicarion indi'r.idual pheromones, is to be utilized in the management originates from captir-e elephants. For example, to demonstrate of *'ild elephants for example in developing - deterrents that infrasound is produced bv Asian elephants, itrvas necessarv betrve en cropland and crop raiding elephants. Most to use the sound-friendh'environmentof and the close importantl)', information about chemical ^zoo communication proxinrin, of a single elephant at that zoo Qavne et a/.,1996). needs to be utilized now, not twentl, years from now, if it is Recordings proving such elephant-emitted noises opened the to effectivell' benefit wild populations of. elephants. way' for 1,ears of field research about how elephants utilize these sounds. Physiology and Reproduction
Olfaction is an important sense driving mammalian behavior. Elephants, both rvild and captive, are a challenging animal Our ongoing research into elephant olfaction has shown that to manage due to their great size, strength and intelligence. elephants behaviorally demonstrate the extensive and precise Carrf ing out detailed research into physiological parameters use oI their olfactory' s)'stems in complex life situations. Thus is simpll, not possible to do safe\' in the wild. It would be a fundamental biology question, "how do animals cope with unrealistic to think about easily collecting blood samples daily, their environment?" can be partially answered by linking or even weekly, from a wild elephant. However, by intensely specific elephant-emitted chemical compounds with elephant studying captive elephants to further our knowledge about behaviors. For example, chemical signal mediated behaviors biologv and ph1'siologl', these captive animals do effectively have been demonstrated to be female-to-female, male-to- contribute to conservalon. male, female-to-male, mother-to-offspring and male-to- female (Rasmussen & Krishnamurthl', 2000). !(ith elephants, man), medical diagnostic methods, including radiographl', have been limited in their scope because of the Our understanding of how elephant olfaction works is size of the animal. Since 1995, a new procedure, improved by easily collecting excretions such as urine and ultrasonography, is revolutionizing our understanding of breath, as well as secretions such as temporal gland and elephant biologl, (Hildebrandt et al., 1995, 1997). mucus, ftom living captive elephants to allow biochemical Ultrasonograph)'offers a clear view of many internal organs and molecular anal1.ss5. Armed with the identity of active of elephants therefote providing us with previously unknown chemical signals, we can figure out how thel' work, which intimate knowledge about elephant biology. Through signals are ephemeral and which ones are long lasting. In ultrasonography scientists have a better understanding of captivity we can easily and rapidly confirm these biochemical important biological issues in elephants such as the rimeline results b1' bioassays with living elephants ar each step. lndeed, of ovulation, and internal physical changes that occur as elephants exhibit observable and measurable responses to elephants mature and during musth. The knowledge gained pheromones, facilitating the correlation of biochemical and b1' closell' study'ing numerous captive elephants in facilities behavioral events (Rasmussen et a/.,2003). in the Vest is being shared in elephant range states everJ, Our ability' to link behavior and biochemistrl' allows more Year. rapid understanding of the results in the real ,.xzorld of the animal. Two outstanding examples exist for the Asian To successfulll'presen'e any species, a detailed understanding elephant. The pre-ovulatotl'pheromone of the female Asian of the reproductive process of the particular animal is elephant was identified through work on capti\/e elephants essential. Ultrasound technologl' has made a significant in North America, and was subsequent\' r'alidated in the difference to elephants b1, contributing new information, and wild (N{yanmat and India) through behavioral observations this knowledge has recentl)' allowed successful assisted and biochemical anall'ses (Rasmussen et a/., 7996). A reproduction techniques. While the number of elephant pheromone of musth male temporal gland secretion that calves produced thtough Artificial Insemination (AI) may sends varf ing messages to both sexes of elephant societl, not yet be enough to significantll'contribute to consetvatton u,as first identified in captive North American elephants, as of the species, bt'u'orking tovard successful and repeatable was the discoverr of the "honer"' musth of teenage .r\sian AI, our unclerstanding of the physiological reproductive males and the chernical explanation of moda musth process of elephants has been, and continues to be, greatlv (Rasmussen et a/., 2002). enha ncecl.
In otcler to hate the tools f()f better manauing this endansered Captive reprocluctive studies clearl.r' help conservation species, it is imperative t() understand the extent of their use decisions. For example, studies of the caprive population of chemical communicati<.rn throush the translation of the have shorvn that alth<-rugh females may have .normal, chemical signaling function. [lo$' pheromones rvork, hou, horm<>ntl estrous ct'cles as measured in blood serum or fecal thet aficct behavior benveen conspccifics and horv thel'can samplcs, sorne have reproductive tract pathological conditions be used to possibly modulate elephant behavior clirectll. reducing their fecunditr' (i.e. making them poor breeding begins to acldress some conservation issues such. as crop candidates). Interestinglr', these captive assessments raiding and huntan-elephant cont-lict. For instancc, crop dernonstrate that these reproductive tract changes usuallv raic{ing bv elephants is not necessarilt' a population problem, occur rvhcn a temalc has not had an opportunitl.to be
Gai::h 22: (ulv 2003) 59
presnxnt ven ofter-r These abnormalitie s can onl_\' bc cletccted detection and tre'.rtment c>f cliseases will be invaluable in helping bv a detailed internal assessment, primarilv ultrasonosraph\. to preserve u'ild populations of Asian elephants. (Hildebrandt et a/.,2000). Such information is useful in making consen'ation decisions on horv to best preserve wild elephant Conclusion populations with disproportionately high numbers of females. For instance, in an almost exclusivell, female population, if Helping Conseruation most oI the females are older and har.e not had an opportunity to conceive for some time, these females may experience similar Elephants are centerpieces of manl'conservation issues. Thel' reproductive tract pathologies as seen in captive animals, therebv are charismatic ecos)'stem engineers of economic importance reducing even further the potential for pregnancy. These )'et their needs often conflict with those of humans (Sukumar, populations would therefore benefrt from a relocation infusion 1991). Humans, as the dominant species, have the of both males as well as younget reproductively active females responsibility to decide who gets v/hat resource, when, and as the best way to ensure future population gtowth. hovz much. Elephants help call attention not only to th€ir needs, but to the requirements of other species. Therefore, Another example of our basic understanding of elephant an intimate knowledge about elephant habits and needs, biology being enhanced by captive elephants is in the field including communicative, physiological and reproductive, is of endocrinology. It'ilas discovered that elephants have two important for long-term conservation decisions. luteinizing hormone surges; one is anovulatory and occurs about 21, days prior to the second ovulatory surge. In The translation and exchange of information ftom captive elephants, ovulation occurs about 24 hours after the second to wild is important and needs to be rapid as time is running ot ovulatory luteinizing hormone surge. Elephants are the out for the Asian elephant. Recent exchanges of information onl1,621tr-^l knou,n to have this unique double luteinizing between elephant managers, mahouts, veterinarians and hormone surge. This significant physiological finding was reseatch scientists from Asia and from the $/est have possible through an intense study of captive animals, as it escalated, and the elephants can only benefit from such was discovered only by closely monitoring captive elephants educational interactions. by daily blood sampling throughout the estrous cycle to determine the most fertile period forAI @rown eta/.,1999). \Western exhibitors of captive elephants are providing increasing support of conservation projects and issues in In regards to diseases, particularll' those which may be shared elephant range states. In the U.S., a group of commercial by humans and elephants, such as tuberculosis, much has and non-commercial exhibitors as well as wildlife been learned from captive elephants. Captive elephants are organizations, worked for legislation to provide federal funds known to contract the same strain of tuberculosis as humans for Asian elephant conservation. This was the creation of (Mlcobacteiam taberczlosis), and as c^ttIe (M. bouis). These the U.S. Fish and riflildlife Sen'ice administered Asian vadous strains have been diagnosed in captive elephants, and, Elephant Conservation Fund which was signed into law in where necessarl', effective treatment protocols have been 1997 nd continues to financially support many important formulated and implemented (I\{ikota et a/.,2000). These elephant projects all over Asia through the use of government t1'pes of illnesses ma1, also affect wild elephants and more funds and private matching donations, many of which are studies are needed to understand this possibiliq,. Havingwell provided b1' western exhibiton oI captive elephants. established diagnosis and treatment plans, as studied in captive populations, will assist in an1' possible detection and Wild areas available for elephants are shrinking daill'. Due to there fore re solutions of such problems occutring in the wild. a lack of habitat in most range states, elephants may face Focused studies of capti'r'e elephant pathology have also death or captiviq' as their on\' ep6.rttt. Some wild areas are identified an elephant specific herpes virus. Although the in realitt' captive sanctuaries. As elephants around the world virus is highll' fatal to young, capti\re born Asian elephants become more intensel), managed b1' humans, captivitl'will (Richman x a/.,1999),it is unknown at this time how prevalent have to expand. this virus is in the wild elephant populations in Asia, and rvhat possible impact it may have on the conservation of Captive elephant facilities in Asia and in the West have a these populations. risporlsibilitl to promote and support elephant conservation by sharing infcrtmation, by creating autareness of problems r\s the elephants' rvorld shrinks, and the humans' u,orld and issues facing rvild elephants, and bv raising financial increases, such zoonotic cliseases tnav expand. Elephants, as support s'here p<,rssible. These facilities must als<.r promote t'ell as humans, may be increasinglr ancl more quickll and support public education of these same issues. Of equal exposecl to ne\\' r'irus and bacteria thet jump from other significance is the cont.inued stuclt of elephant biologl species. lI this l,ere to occur, the information gleanecl br' throush a rariet\ of projects, such as the development of I'ears of ckrse studl oI captive elephant populati<.rns in
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technologr t(, prcservc the genetic cliversitv of the highli' I Iilde branclt T.8., G<-retitz, P, Pratt, N.C., Brown,J.l-., illontali, endanqerccl Asian elepl-rant. R.J., Schmitt, D.L., Fritsch, G. & Herrnes, R. (2000) Ultrasonographl' of the Urogcnital Tract in Elephants Captive elcphants are indeed irnportant to conservation, anc{ (Loxodonta zlficana and Ebphat ntaximu): An Important Tool to the survival of all elephants. for Assessing Female Reproductive Function. Zoo Biology 19 321-332 Acknowledgements N{ikota S.I(., Larsen, R.S. & Montali, RJ. (2000) Tuberculosis in Elephants in North America. Zoo tsiology 19: 393-403 In the spirit of this article v,r acknou'ledgeJoan Galvin whose ongoing "behind the scenes" support for captive elephants Pavne I{.8., Langbauer Jr, S(R. & Thomas, E.N[. (1986) hetping conservation is latgell'unnoticed, and who Infrasonic Calls of the Asian Elephant (Elepbn naxrruas) spearheaded the effort to make the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Belsattioral Ecology and Sociobiologlt, 18: 291-301 Service's Asian Elephant Conservation Fund a reality. Rasmussen L.E.L., Lazar, J. &. Greenwood, D.R. (2003) References Olfactory Adventures of Elephantine Pheromones. Biocltem .9oc.Trans. 37: 137 -141. Brown. J., Schmitt, D.L., Bellem, A., Graham, L.H. & Lehnhardt, J. (1 999) Hormone Secretion in the Asian Rasmussen L.E.L., tuddle, H.S. & I(rishoamurthy, V. Q002) Elephant (E hp b as m axi m u s) : Chxacterization o f Ovul ato 11' Mellifluous l\{atures to Malodorous in Musth. Nature, l,.ond., and Anovulatory Sutges. Biology of Reprodaction 67: 1294- 475 975-76. 1299 Rasmussen L.E.L. & I(rishnamurthli V (2000) How Chemical Fernando, P., Vidya, T.N.C., Raiapakse, C., Dangolla, A. & Signals Integrate Asian Elephant Society: The Knorvn and the Melnick, D.J. (2003) Reliable Noninvasive Genotyping: Unknown. Zoo Biology 79: 405-423. Fantasy or Reality? Joarnal of Heredi/ 94: 115-125 Rasmussen L.E.L., Lee, T.D., Roelofs, !(L., Zhang A. &. Daves, G.D. (1996) Insect Phetomone in Elephants. Nature, Lond., Hildebrandt, T.B. & Goeritz, F. (1995) Ultrasonography as a 379: 684. Tool in Zoo Animal Management. In Zoological I-,ibrar1 - Researcb and Captiue Propagation. (eds. U. Ganzloser., J.I{. Richman L.I(., Ntontali, RJ., Garber, R.L., I{ennedl', M.A., Hodges & W l(aumanns), pp. 49-58. Lehnhard,J., Hildebrandt, T., Schmitt, D., Hardli D., Alcendor, Filander Verlag GmbH, Furth, Germanl'. D.J. & Hayward, G.S. (1999) Novel Endotheliotropic Hetpesvirus Fatal to Asian and African Elephants. Science 283: Hildebrandt T.B., Goeritz. F., Pratt, N.C., Schmitt, D.L., 1171-1176 Lehnhardt, J., Herrnes, R., Quandt, S., Raath, J,, \X/est, G., & N{ontali, RJ. (1997) Assesstnent of Health and Reproductive Sukumar R. (1991) The Management of Large N{ammals in Status in African and Asian Elephants by Transrectal Relation to Male Strategies and Conflict with People. Biological Ultrasonograph.l,. Proceedings of the Ameicatt Association of Zoo Conseruation, 55: 93-102 Veteinaians Annaal Meertng. pp. 207 -212
Plate 1 Dcmo ns trati rrg rrl tras<>r-rntl i n I..e rrl a
C'aiah 22: flulr' 2tX)-3) Plate2 Collecting blood sample from an elephant's ear Plate 4 Demonstrating the use of ultrasound in l{erala
Plate 3 Collectine intcrcligitaI glrt'rcl volatilcs Plate 5 Demotrstrating the use of ultrasouncl in .\ssam
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