AZA Elephants

Elephants in AZA accredited zoos offer enormous educational experiences to visitors. In a 2005 national poll, 95% of U.S. adults agreed that seeing elephants in real life fosters a greater appreciation of these majestic animals and encourages people to learn more about them. In this same survey, 86% of respondents agreed that visiting zoos and aquariums encourages people to donate money or time to wildlife conservation.

Below is the number of current AZA accredited institutions that care for elephants and the number of elephants in our care.

88 AZA accredited institutions care for a total of 294 elephants:

	African Elephants 155 African elephants reside in 48 AZA accredited institutions 28 males 127 females
	Asian Elephants 139 Asian elephants reside in 40 AZA accredited institutions 27 males 112 females Source: http://www.elephanttag.org/

Elephant Reproduction

Elephants and their reproductive cycles are complex. They have large reproductive tracts, long pregnancies, produce large calves that require a long developmental period and reproduce infrequently with the inter-calf interval as long as 5 years.

Male Reproductive System

Unusual for mammals, the testicles of elephants are located within the body, close to the kidneys. The male’s reproductive tract is about 2 meters long. Male elephants, called bulls, begin producing sperm between 10 and 15 years of age, sometimes even earlier in zoos. In the wild, only the older, larger bulls gain access to the females, however younger breeders are known in zoos. Adult bulls go through periodic episodes of elevated testosterone and heightened aggressive states called musth. Musth bulls can be recognized by the large amounts of thick fluid draining from the temporal glands located just behind the eyes. Many bulls continually dribble urine and show damp patches on their hind legs. Musth bulls show several unique behaviors including: ear-waving to spread the musth scent, a musth rumble (or low frequency vocalization announcing his presence to cycling females), a musth walk with head and ears held high above their shoulders as a visual display to other bulls and aggression towards everything in its path. All of these make the musth bull a formidable opponent. Although we don’t fully understand the complex behavioral function of musth, musth bulls are frequently successful suitors for cycling cows.

Female Reproductive System

The reproductive system of the female elephant has been better understood in the last 30 years through the combination of studies using necropsy, hormonal assays and ultrasonic investigations. A cycling female, or cow, may vocalize and show greater interest and enthusiasm for bulls. Bulls will test the cow’s readiness to breed by performing a flemen behavior, which uses his trunk to bring urine samples to the veromonasal receptors in the roof of the mouth. These sensory receptors send chemical signals to the elephant’s brain telling him if the female is ready to breed. Courtship may last from 1 hour to 4 days where the bull will stay near the cow and guard her from other bulls while he occasionally mates with her. After 1 to 3 days, the cow will no longer be receptive to breeding or be capable of conceiving. Typically, wild cows will begin reproducing at 12-14 years of age, sometimes earlier in zoos. The interval between calves can be about 5 years but this is highly variable based on the availability of food, the presence of a suckling calf and the age of the cow.

Photos by Dr. Thomas Bernd Hildebrandt, Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research

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Female Elephant Estrous Cycle

Ongoing endocrine research has allowed elephant facilities to develop the capacity to monitor and predict elephant reproductive events, including ovulation, conception and parturition. Continuous hormone monitoring and ultrasonography are the only ways to conclusively determine the level of reproductive activity. This can easily be accomplished by measuring the concentration of progestins in urine or blood samples collected on a weekly basis and regular ultrasonic exams. In general terms, the estrous cycle of the Asian and African elephant is 15 to 16 weeks, comprised of an 8 to 11 week luteal phase and a shorter interluteal (follicular) period of 4 to 6 weeks.

Figure Caption: Patterns of serum progestogen (black) and leuteinizing hormone (LH; red) during two successive ovarian cycles followed by pregnancy (grey) and birth. Two surges of LH in each cycle (19 to 21 days apart) allow for accurate timing of ovulation on the 2nd LH surge (asterixes) for artificial insemination (AI) or breeding (gestation month = 0). At the end of gestation progestogen concentrations fall to baseline prior to the onset of labor and birth.

Photo by Dr. Catharine Wheaton

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Ultrasonography of Developing Calf

Advances in ultrasonography allow detection and monitoring of elephant pregnancy. Early development can be monitored transrectally but as the fetus develops, it drops out of reach of the probes. Later in gestation, fetal movement and parts of the fetus can be detected by transabdominal ultrasound. Ultrasound exams are also important for monitoring the birth process.

This ultrasound image shows a developing elephant calf at 99 days.

Photo by Dr. Michele Miller and Dr. Don Neiffer

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Elephant Birth

Once the cow becomes pregnant, she has a long wait before the calf is born. The length of pregnancy, or gestation time, can vary between 21-23 months. The following images take you through the stages of one Asian elephant birth.

#1 First, a bulge appears underneath the tail as the calf’s legs, either front or back, move over the mother’s hip girdle into the vestibule.

#2 In this birth the water did not break until the calf was fully delivered. Notice the fluid-filled amniotic sac emerging from the vestibule.

#3 As the calf exits the vestibule, it is forced forward under the belly of the mother. The amniotic fluid in this case forms a ball under the calf’s legs.

#4 The mother is squatting and pushing and the calf has almost fully exited under her belly.

#5 The calf is fully delivered and on impact with the ground the amniotic sac breaks spilling large quantities of birth fluid onto the floor.

#6 In this birth, the calf struggled to stand almost immediately. During his examination by the medical and animal care team, the calf is kept in reach of the mother and is toweled off ready to be with his mother again.

#7 The calf, identified as a male weighing about 300 lbs, stood within a few minutes. Nursing occurred within a few hours after birth.

Photos by Dr. Susan Mainka

The sequence of this birth from bulge to birth was 7 hours. Every birth is different and each phase can take widely varying amounts of time. This particular birth was a first time mother at age 11 and the calf was quite large, probably contributing to the long birth process. Many births are much shorter in duration.

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Advances in Medical Technology

Advances in assisted reproduction in elephant facilities have been especially valuable for overcoming the logistical problems facing elephants that are often housed long distances apart. Artificial insemination (AI) is a viable alternative to natural breeding in cases where the female’s chances of being bred naturally are limited. AI applied to elephant populations can have many positive effects, such as increasing the genetic diversity, increasing the number of elephants that can be reproductively active, reduce the need to transport, and reduce the need to disrupt established female social groups. AI may also be a tool in the future for introducing new genetics into a population without having to remove elephants from their range countries through the use of semen collected from wild bulls.

Source: http://www.elephanttag.org/

African Elephant Characteristics

Source: http://www.elephanttag.org/

Social Lives of Elephants

Elephants are the largest living land mammals. These amazing creatures are a favorite for animal enthusiasts, zoogoers, and animal caretakers alike. Below is more information on the lives of elephants, including information about size, life span, social behavior and communication. African elephants can grow to be about 13 feet tall and weigh over 10 tons (or 20,000 lbs)! Asian elephants, although smaller, can still grow to be 12 feet tall and reach weights of 7 tons (14,000 lbs). Elephants can live for up to 70 years. Elephants may spend 12-18 hours a day feeding. Since elephants are so large, they require an enormous amount of food. Adult elephants can eat between 200-600 lbs of food a day. As herbivores, elephants consume grasses, tree foliage, bark, twigs, and other vegetation daily. Elephants can also drink up to 50 gallons of water a day - about as much as a standard bath tub holds. Elephants have a variety of adaptations that allow them to survive in a wide range of habitats. An elephant's trunk is one very valuable adaptation. Elephants use their trunk much like humans use their hands. In fact, an elephant's trunk has numerous muscles and a grasping tip. The trunk can be used to pick up food as well as to suck up water and shoot it into the elephants' mouth. Elephants will also use their trunk to suck up mud or dust and spray it over their body to protect their skin. Also, the well-developed sense of touch in their trunks is often used to reassure other herd members.

Elephants' ivory tusks are actually elongated incisor teeth. They use these tusks to dig out minerals from the soil and to dig waterholes in dry riverbeds. They excavate the holes using their trunk, tusks, and feet. It is thought that these waterhole locations are passed down from one generation to another.

An elephants' ears, especially those of the African elephant, help them to stay cool. Their ears are filled with blood vessels; by holding them out in the wind or flapping them, an elephant can create its own cooling system.

An African elephant family group can average 8-10 individuals, where as an Asian elephant unit tends to be smaller, averaging 4-8 individuals. In general, older, experienced females, called matriarchs, lead elephant families. These female-led herds usually consist of adult daughters, their calves, and a number of juvenile and adolescent male and female offspring. Female herd members are usually related, but occasionally non-related individuals join to form families. Young females often assist their mothers with calf care and provide allomothering for younger calves in the herd. Since female elephants are known to remain reproductive throughout most of their lives, this is their primary activity beyond eating and drinking. Female elephants also appear to maintain lifelong relationships with their immediate relatives, particularly their female offspring. The connection of elephant females in the wild to their family members and calves is well documented in many situations.

Male, or bull elephants have very different social needs than do the females. In the wild, males leave or are driven out of the family group as they approach sexual maturity. Males spend as much as 95% of their lives alone or in loose association with other bulls. Though bulls are primarily solitary in adulthood, they do at times associate in bachelor groups. They are often also in chemosensory (scent) and infrasonic communication (low-frequency calls) with other elephants in their area. In early years of adulthood, the young bulls spend time learning the capabilities of other bulls in their area and establish a social hierarchy and status. As they age and grow larger, thus able to compete effectively for breeding opportunities, the bulls appear to spend their time eating and seeking out females. Elephant bull nature is competitive, rather than affiliative.

Elephants are highly intelligent animals that display complex social behaviors such as greeting ceremonies, group defense, submission, tactile contacts, vocal communication, scent communication, social play, courtship, mating, birthing, parenting, communal care, teaching, threat displays, charging, and fighting. Elephants have a number of adaptations that help them maintain communication. Their sensitive hearing allows them to keep in touch over long distances. They also use their ears as signaling devices, often to warn the herd of approaching danger.

Elephants produce a variety of vocalizations including trumpets, squeaks, chirps, and low frequency rumbles. Rumble vocalizations contain frequencies that are below the range of human hearing (infrasonic components). These low frequency calls can travel several miles and may be used to coordinate their movements. Females may also use these calls to announce their willingness to breed. Source: http://www.elephanttag.org/

Asian Elephant Characteristics

Source: http://www.elephanttag.org/

Elephant Basics

Elephants are the largest land animals in the world. Their unique trunk acts as part nose to assist in breathing and detecting odors, and part hand to assist with manipulating objects, social interactions, eating, dust bathing, drawing-up water and releasing water into the mouth. Their trunk is composed of about 40,000 muscles, making it strong, flexible and dexterous.

Elephants have the longest gestation of any land animal averaging 21.5 months. They also have the largest brain of any land animal.

Elephants are long lived. Studies have shown that life expectancy at birth in African elephants is 41 years for females and 24 years for males. Maximum life span for females is over 65 years, and for males it is close to 60 years. Elephants' developmental rate is similar to humans.

There are two recognized species of elephants, the Asian elephant and the African elephant.

Elephants are a keystone species that influence the composition of their environment while often benefiting other species. The African elephants' ability to locate underground water and dig pools helps provide many other species with water during droughts. African elephants may destroy trees and shrubs allowing for grasses to grow that other species eat. In the process, African elephants, and perhaps particularly the forest elephant, create an environment conducive to regeneration of healthy forest ecosystems. Management of elephants in the wild means maintaining a balance between elephants and the ecosystem.

Though much less numerous in the wild, Asian elephants also impact their environment and increasingly come into conflict with humans and agriculture. Saving habitat for elephants' means saving habitats for many other species as well.

Source: http://www.elephanttag.org/

Conservation

Many national parks and nature reserves have been created to conserve Sri Lankan wildlife

Main national parks and reserves that contain viable Sri Lankan elephant populations.

Protected area	Area (km²)
Yala (Nature reserve, National Park, Yala East)	Total 1508
Wilpattu National Park	1310
Maduru Oya National Park	588
Udawalawe National Park	308
Wasgomuwa National Park	369
Peak Wilderness Sanctuary	223
Gal Oya National Park	260
Floodplains National Park	173
Padaviya Sanctuary	65
Minneriya-Giritale Sanctuary	75
Bundala National Park	62
Gal-Oya East	124
Gal-Oya South East	152

Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage in Kegalle treats injured elephants, caring for baby elephants that have lost their mothers. Nearly 70 elephants live here. Captive breeding is also ongoing here. Udawalawe Elephant Transit Centre in Udawalawe is a rehabilitation centre where orphaned elephant calves have been kept until they are released into the habitat.