Welfare impacts associated with using aversive geofencing devices on captive Asian elephants

Attitudes towards the Potential Use of Aversive Geofencing Devices to Manage Wild Elephant Movement

“…Respondents questioned the impact on the mental and physical wellbeing of elephants in response to electric shocks. Previous studies conducted on other species [ 63 , 91 , 92 , 93 , 94 , 95 ] and with captive Asian elephants [ 76 ] showed that the expected increase in acute stress levels measured using behavioural (e.g., aversive or anxiety/stress related behaviours) and physiological (e.g., cortisol hormone levels, heart rate, body temperature) responses to electric shock rapidly returned to baseline levels soon after experiencing them. Further, by ensuring that stimuli are delivered only when the elephant moved in the ‘wrong’ direction and not based on its location, will permit elephants to learn accurately and move in the ‘right’ direction to avoid the shock [ 96 ].…”

“…Part of the reason for this debate may be the many nuances associated with the way electric shocks are used with these species, e.g., the strength of the shock, or whether shocks are delivered by humans or if animals can avoid the shock if they choose, and the possible stress that it would cause on the animal. Non-lethal electric fences used for elephants typically deliver electric shocks of 5500–10,000 V with very low amperage (~5 mA) and a pulse duration of about a few milliseconds [ 25 , 40 , 59 , 60 ], and are generally perceived as an acceptable HEC mitigation tool [ 61 ]. AGDs used on livestock are also designed to deliver shocks with similar characteristics, but use a much lower voltage (e.g., ~800 V [ 47 , 62 ]) and lower energy than that given from electric fences used for these species [ 63 ].…”

“…We previously conducted pilot studies on AGDs which revealed that electric shocks (~4000 V, ~51.7 µs, with no resistance) from a modified dog-training collar delivered on the neck of captive Asian elephants produces desirable aversive responses, and that there is potential to condition elephants to avoid the shock with a prior audio warning [ 64 ]. Furthermore, our assessment of behavioural and physiological stress responses to electric shocks of these captive elephants showed that the expected increase in acute stress responses returned to normal levels soon afterwards [ 76 ]. These studies revealed promising results for the potential use of AGDs to manage wild elephants, but their successful use may depend on their acceptability just as much as their efficacy [ 36 , 77 ], which was not assessed in these studies.…”