Investigating the impact of rank and ovarian activity on the social behavior of captive female African elephants
Abstract 10.1002/zoo.20235.abs Over a third of captive female African elephants in North America fail to exhibit normal estrous cycles based on long-term serum progestagen analyses. Why acyclicity occurs is unknown; however, the majority of noncycling females are ranked by keepers as the dominant individual within the group. To investigate the relationship between ovarian cyclicity status […]
What do population-level welfare indices suggest about the well-being of zoo elephants?
Abstract 10.1002/zoo.20303.abs To assess zoo elephants’ welfare using objective population-level indices, we sought data from zoos and other protected populations (potential “benchmarks”) on variables affected by poor well-being. Such data were available on fecundity, potential fertility, stillbirths, infant mortality, adult survivorship, and stereotypic behavior. Most of these can also be affected by factors unrelated to […]
Results of the third reproductive assessment survey of north American Asian (Elephas maximus) and African (Loxodonta africana) female elephants
A written survey assessed reproductive status of female Asian and African elephants in AZA/SSP facilities in 2008, and data were compared to surveys conducted in 2002 and 2005. Results showed that ovarian acyclicity rates across the surveys remained unchanged for Asian (13.3, 10.9 and 11.1%) and African (22.1, 31.2 and 30.5%) elephants, respectively (P>0.05), but […]