Elephants Elephants - Wildpro - Twycross Zoo

Three calves out of 17 live births were killed by their mother/member of the
herd before they are 1 year old. Three females have rejected their calves. Of
these, one has rejected two out of three, another rejected two out of four, and
the third has rejected both of her calves.
Females – unsuccessful pregnancies; five females have had unsuccessful
pregnancies at three collections. There is not enough information on any of the
unsuccessful pregnancies to give any reason.
Health
Male – out of the 20 animals surveyed, ten have some kind of medical history;
four Africans, six Asians - tusk repair (x3 all had to be anaesthised to repair, x
1 in calf), birth defect (x1), weight loss and diarrhoea (now dead), temporal
gland infection (cleared up), loose faeces caused by ingesting toxic material,
abscess, temporary joint problems. Four elephants have had general
anaesthetics, one four times due to tusk problems.
Female – out of the 64 females surveyed, 25 females had a medical history
(30% Africans and 48% of Asians). These ranged from mainly foot problems
(abscesses, cracked toes) and limb stiffness (arthritis, stiff joints, most in front
legs, N = 1 African, 7 Asian), to one case of tusk infection (African) and
tumours on the vagina (as stated above).
Summary – No major medical problems were reported. The main problem
with females appears to be stiffness in joints. All these animals are over 20 so
possibly indicating a management practice that induced this stiffness in their
past. This is very subjective and very difficult to pinpoint how, why, when
and if these animals have arthritis (if indeed they do) due to management
practices.
Stereotypic behaviour
Males - There was no stereotypic behaviour seen in 80% of the bulls (N = 9
Africans, 7 Asians). Behaviour reported included head bobbing, pacing and
weaving. Instances occurred at four of the 11 collections that hold males. The
duration varies from a total of 2 to 4 hours a day. The majority of
circumstances occurred towards the end of the day, prior to coming inside.
Females – 47% of Asians were reported as displaying stereotypic behaviour.
Time ranged between 20 mins to 10 hours per day. This behaviour took the
form of weaving or swaying (9 animals), head bobs (2 animals), rocking (3
animals) and pacing (2 animals).
23% (7 animals) of Africans reported stereotypic behaviours. This behaviour
took the form of pacing, lack of response to commands, walking in circles,
weaving or swaying and head bobbing.
Summary – A third of the elephants in collections surveyed have been seen to
perform some kind of stereotypic behaviour. This is occurring in all bar three
collections and in animals above the age of 19. The duration varies from
between 20 mins to four hours a day, and does not occur every day.
Anecdotally, collections say that this behaviour tends to occur just before
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