The exploitation of Asian elephants

Synopsis

Asian elephants have a unique status as the only domesticated animal whose population depends on the recruitment of individuals caught in the wild. Elephants are used in their native countries such as India, Malaysia, Sri Lanka and Thailand for forestry work, religious festivals and in timber yards and are also housed in temples and logging camps. They are trained in many countries to perform in zoos and circuses. Their capture often, but not invariably, involves cruelty and rough treatment. Elephants are highly intelligent and, in the confined conditions of captivity, boredom is a common problem. Elephants are usually underworked in zoos but, at the other extreme, overwork in other situations can cause exhaustion, particularly in combination with inadequate opportunities for feeding.

Wild Asian elephants conflict with humans where the size of the reserve is inadequate and they have taken to crop raiding. Attempts to translocate the elephants are of limited value as, frequently, the animals will return from over 100 km away. In some areas which are heavily populated by humans, wild elephants have little chance of long-term survival, particularly where their translocation or the creation of habitat corridors is impracticable. In such situations, it should be possible to develop a policy of humane domestication of the wild elephants to meet the requirements of local people. There is also a poaching problem in reserves to acquire ivory, which diminishes the male elephants population.

There are few, if any, self-sustaining captive elephant groups; thus elephant populations are declining both in the wild and in captivity. There are real welfare problems for both wild and domesticated elephants. To maintain populations of Asian elephants, it is essential that they should be bred more efficiently in captivity.