Effect of a birth on the behavior of a family group of Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) at Dublin Zoo

Abstract

Elephants in the wild live in herds of related females from several generations. Zoos, therefore, tend to house elephants in female groups, consisting where possible of related individuals. This type of group structure is very beneficial as it allows group members to experience events such as births in the group, and means that natural social interactions can take place between the group members. The behavior of four related female Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) at Dublin Zoo was recorded before and after the birth of a calf, to examine what effects it would have on the behavior and associations in the elephant group. The mother of the calf significantly decreased the amount of time she spent walking after the birth and the aunt of the calf showed significant decreases in both walking and standing. The mother spent the majority of her time closest to her calf after the birth, but the proportion of time she spent with each of the other individuals in the group did not change. The associations of the aunt also did not change after the birth. The older sister of the newborn calf increased the proportion of time she spent nearest to her mother after the calf was born, and reduced the time she spent close to another young elephant in the group. The new calf seems to have been successfully assimilated into the elephant group.

Nocturnal behavior of orphaned Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) calves in Sri Lanka

“…Wild Asian elephant calves learn many vital skills from their mother and other group members during their development, including parenting and allomothering skills (Whilde & Marples, 2012).…”

“…Wild Asian elephant calves learn many vital skills from their mother and other group members during their development, including parenting and allomothering skills (Whilde & Marples, ). Monitoring orphan calf welfare is therefore highly important because calves have undergone abrupt early separation, when normally they would spend years of nutritional dependence on their mother and grow up in a stable family herd (Latham & Mason, ; Sukumar, ).…”

Effects of physiological changes and social life events on adrenal glucocorticoid activity in female zoo-housed Asian elephants (Elephas maximus)

“…Birth is generally considered a positive stimulus. Group dynamics and activities may change with focus on a calf [21], and non-maternal female elephants often participate in allomothering [22]. By contrast, loss of individuals and social bonds is generally considered a negative stimulus.…”

Age‐based variation in calf independence, social behavior and play in a captive population of African elephant calves

“…As calves increased in age, individuals were less likely to be observed in close proximity to their mothers as they explored their habitats and sought out diverse interactive partners for both nonplay‐ and play‐related social interactions. Insights from this study add to the body of literature documenting systematic reference values for elephant calf development in captive settings (Kowalski et al, 2010; Petraccione et al, 2017; Webber, 2017; Whilde & Marples, 2012). These insights would enable zoo managers to assess individual‐ and population‐level patterns in social behavior that could be harnessed to maximize elephant welfare and facilitate the expression of the entire suite of natural behaviors that elephants possess (Kiley‐Worthington, 1989, 2019).…”