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A survey of elephant husbandry and foot health in North American zoos
Author(s) -
Lewis Karen D.,
Shepherdson David J.,
Owens Terrah M.,
Keele Mike
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
zoo biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.5
H-Index - 54
eISSN - 1098-2361
pISSN - 0733-3188
DOI - 10.1002/zoo.20291
Subject(s) - animal husbandry , foot (prosody) , lameness , veterinary medicine , herd , health care , medicine , environmental health , physical therapy , biology , surgery , ecology , agriculture , philosophy , linguistics , economics , economic growth
The foot health of elephants in human care is a longstanding concern. In 2001, the AZA Standards for Elephant Management and Care were published recommending husbandry to improve foot health. This article reports the results of a 2006 survey: basic statistics describing facility, husbandry, and foot health attributes are reported and relationships among variables are investigated. Median area available to elephants exceeded Standard recommendations (755 ft 2 per elephant indoor and 10,000 ft 2 outdoor). Concrete makes up 69% of indoor area and natural substrates account for 85% of outdzoor area. Elephants in AZA facilities received an average of 45.5 min/day of exercise, and facilities with a structured exercise plan provided significantly more exercise than did facilities without a structured exercise plan ( z =−2.522, P =0.012). Enrichment is important to psychological health and may also stimulate activity beneficial to foot health; 95% of institutions had a structured enrichment program. Preventative foot care was nearly universal, and 100% of facilities performed routine nail and pad trimming. However, foot pathology has not been eradicated; 33% of institutions reported at least one pathology in the previous year. This study found a strong inverse relationship between foot pathology and exercise (χ 2 (3)=24.34, P <0.001). Younger herds were less likely to have a member diagnosed with arthritis (χ 2 (1)=8.90, P =0.003). Lameness was unrelated to age or pathology, and only the presence of arthritis explained lameness ( z =−7.81, P <0.001). African elephants seemed to experience lower rates of foot pathology and arthritis than Asian elephants; however, this was explained by differences in age. Zoo Biol 29:221–236, 2010. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.