How should the psychological well‐being of zoo elephants be objectively investigated?

Abstract

Animal welfare (sometimes termed ''well-being'') is about feelings -states such as ''suffering'' or ''contentment'' that we can infer but cannot measure directly. Welfare indices have been developed from two main sources: studies of suffering humans, and of research animals deliberately subjected to challenges known to affect emotional state. We briefly review the resulting indices here, and discuss how well they are understood for elephants, since objective welfare assessment should play a central role in evidence-based elephant management. We cover behavioral and cognitive responses (approach/avoidance; intention, redirected and displacement activities; vigilance/startle; warning signals; cognitive biases, apathy and depression-like changes; stereotypic behavior); physiological responses (sympathetic responses; corticosteroid output -often assayed noninvasively via urine, feces or even hair; other aspects of HPA function, e.g. adrenal hypertrophy); and the potential negative effects of prolonged stress on reproduction (e.g. reduced gametogenesis; low libido; elevated still-birth rates; poor maternal care) and health (e.g. poor wound-healing; enhanced disease rates; shortened lifespans). The best validated, most used welfare indices for elephants are corticosteroid outputs and stereotypic behavior. Indices suggested as valid, partially validated, and/or validated but not yet applied within zoos include: measures of preference/avoidance; displacement movements; vocal/postural signals of affective (emotional) state; startle/vigilance; apathy; salivary and urinary epinephrine; female acyclity; infant mortality rates; skin/foot infections; cardio-vascular disease; and premature adult death. Potentially useful indices that have not yet attracted any validation work in elephants include: operant responding and place preference tests; intention and vacuum movements; fear/ stress pheromone release; cognitive biases; heart rate, pupil dilation and blood pressure; corticosteroid assay from hair, especially tail-hairs (to access endocrine events up to a year ago); adrenal hypertrophy; male infertility; prolactinemia; and immunological changes. Zoo Biol 29:237-255,

Species differences in responses to captivity: stress, welfare and the comparative method

“…This field evaluates the wellbeing of animals controlled by humans [2][3][4][5], principally the vast numbers kept confined (e.g. the 25 000 000 000 farm animals, http://faostat.fao.org/site/573/default.aspx#ancor).…”

“…However, they might provide 'evo mecho' insights into the evolution of different types of behavioral control mechanisms (see the text). 12 or husbandry regimes [2][3][4][5]. However, interspecies variation in welfare can be used for a complementary, and potentially extremely valuable, third approach: comparative methods.…”

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Advancing Behavior Analysis in Zoos and Aquariums

“…Many problem behaviors are an indication of poor welfare, and behavior analysis is an important tool for improving welfare and achieving acceptable levels of psychological well-being in zoo and aquarium animals. Animal welfare has become a ubiquitous research topic in agriculture, biomedicine, and zoological collections (e.g., Dawkins 2008;Maple 2007;Maple et al 2008;Maple and Perdue 2013;Mason and Veasey 2010;Novak and Suomi 1988). To reiterate the recommendation of Edwards and Poling (2011), animal problem behavior can be socially significant for both animals and human caregivers.…”