Zoos often trumpet the idea that they support elephant conservation in the wild, when in fact, most zoos contribute little to nothing towards meaningful in-situ conservation efforts, especially in comparison to their overall operating budget. Asian elephants have declined by 50% or more since the early 20th century to between 40,000-50,000 individuals, while African elephants have decreased by more than two thirds since the 1970s, with recent reports estimating that as few as 415,000 individuals remain today (Williams et al., 2020; Gobush et al., 2021).
Despite these substantial population declines, zoos restock their collections with individuals taken from the wild. Zoos continue to import elephants from the wild because the captive population alone is unsustainable; without the addition of elephants taken from the wild, the rapid demise of the captive population would likely occur within the next 25-30 years. For the captive Asian elephant population, it was reported in 2000 that zoos in North America would need to import four elephants per year simply to maintain the population at its current level (Wiese, 2000). Since 2000, in the United States, more captive elephant deaths have occurred than births; sadly, deaths have equaled or exceeded births in 20 out of the recorded 21 years.
Troubles with Captive Breeding of Elephants Drives Demand for Wild-Caught Elephants
The “need” for zoos to import wild elephants to maintain the captive population numbers directly relates to the reproductive and health issues elephants face in captivity, including high calf mortality (up to 35%) (Hagan et al., 2020), low breeding success rate, low birth rate, shortened lifespans, high disease occurrence, and dangerous decreases in genetic diversity within the captive gene pool. The Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) calculates that there are 37 years until the current population is at or below 90% gene diversity, and projects that, just to maintain the current population number, they would need 8-10 births over the next three years. As a point of reference, over the past five years, the average number of births was 1.6 (Hagan et al., 2020). Therefore, elephants continue to be captured from the wild, often while they are still dependent on their mothers, to meet the demand of zoos wishing to continue attracting visitors by exploiting these magnificent giants.
Wild Capture Harms Individuals and Families
Wild captures not only severely compromise the welfare and survival of the captured elephants, but also disrupt the families and herds from which they were taken, with serious consequences for the well-being of wild elephants and their conservation. Elephants are captured in the wild by a variety of incredibly stressful methods, including separating targeted animals from their family groups using helicopters or harassing the group using shotguns or other mechanisms that generate loud noises until the target animals become exhausted and separated. They may then be tranquillized from the air and captured by ground crews, while the remaining elephants in the group are kept at bay using further harassment. These methods can result in injury or sometimes death among both target and non-target individuals.
While elephant infants or juveniles are most frequently targeted for capture and export for captive use, the removal of adult females from matriarch-led groups does occur. This can result in the fracture of the groups’ social dynamics and the development of hyper-aggressive behavior. Likewise, the removal of a younger female caregiver can reduce the chances of infants surviving. Further, the lasting psychological and physical impacts of these traumatic experiences remain unknown, but potentially increase the demonstration of stereotypies often demonstrated by captive elephants, including excessive rocking, swaying, and head-bobbing.
AZA Insists on Maintaining Elephant Captivity
Despite these grave and unsurmountable challenges, the AZA continues to pour exorbitant resources into continuing to hold elephants captive for their exhibits. For example, the cost of artificial insemination, which remains the most successful strategy to increase the captive elephant birth rate according to experts on the procedure, can cost 15,000 USD for a single session, with costs often believed to be higher due to various logistical factors. Individuals may endure this highly invasive procedure multiple times without any guarantee of success, with procedures lasting and possibly exceeding 30 minutes to two hours, taking the overall costs up to 130,000 USD.
Even in cases where artificial insemination results in pregnancy, that is no guarantee that the calves will survive. As of 2021, at least 51 elephants have been conceived via artificial insemination in North American and European zoos. Of these, 35% were stillborn or miscarried. As of February 2022, only 28 (54%) elephants produced via artificial insemination were still alive.
As of 2018, in North America, 76% of all African elephants (165 individuals) and 58% of all Asian elephants (148 individuals) were wild-caught just within the AZA population. Since the first entries in the AZA studbooks, 271 African elephants were wild caught (48% of the total) and 312 Asian elephants (74% of the total) were wild caught (Paxton, 2018; Keele, 2014).
Wild Capture Is Widely Regarded as Unhelpful to Wildlife Conservation Efforts
In 2004, the IUCN Species Survival Commission’s African Elephant Specialist Group issued a statement that the “captive use [of African elephants] presented no direct benefit to in situ conservation” (Niskanen 2004). However, zoos continue taking individuals from wild populations with no realistic goal of releasing their progeny into the wild, and consequently fail to provide any tangible benefit to the species’ future survival (Gobush et al., 2021; Williams et al., 2020). Wild capture only exacerbates the threats wild elephants face from habitat destruction, fragmentation, conflict with people, poaching, and hunting.
Take Action for Elephants!
It is time to unite in agreement that keeping elephants in captivity has no real benefit to elephants in the wild and directly harms individual welfare and already struggling wild populations in the process.
Please, read and share our newest report, Elephants in Zoos—A Legacy of Shame, watch our video detailing the plight of elephants in captivity, and consider adopting an elephant, to help us fight for their freedom and advocate for the real conservation of their species.
Keep Wildlife in the Wild,
Devan
Article Sources
