Elephants Elephants - Wildpro - Twycross Zoo

Section 3: MANAGEMENT IN CAPTIVITY
3.1 Elephants and Man
Because of its long association with man, it seems appropriate to include
something of the history of this relationship. The relationship extends to prehistory.
Pictures of elephant and mammoths are found in ancient cave
paintings of many cultures (Eltringham 1982). Hinduism has as a deity (of
wisdom) Ganesha, who is depicted as elephant-headed. Indian chronicles
mention the elephant 4000 years ago and it was used in the time of the Lord
Buddha. A white elephant appeared to his mother Queen Maya to announce
the birth of a royal world-ruler; the Buddha could be spoken of as the Great
Elephant in one of his incarnations. In Siam (Thailand) the white elephant
was thought to have a king’s soul. The elephant has a long history of
ceremonial use (Carrington 1962) and is still used as such in many Asian
countries (Eltringham 1982)
It is thought that humans began domestication of Asian elephants some 4000-
5000 years ago in the Indus valley (Carrington 1962). By 700 BC the elephant is
mentioned as an animal that is captured and tamed (Fernando 1989). Aristotle
also refers to capturing elephants in his Historia Animalium (4 th century BC).
Methods of capture are described well by (Carrington 1962) (Fernando 1989)
[Menageries 1931 #30]. Elephants were traded throughout Asia; animals from
Sri Lanka were traded widely from the 3 rd century, later by the Portuguese in
the 17 th century and the Dutch and British from the 18 th century. Large
numbers of animals were moved over national borders, between India and Sri
Lanka, and Myanmar to Sri Lanka and Bengal. This all contributed to the
mixing of genetic material among elephants in Asia (Fleischer et al 2001).
Elephants were used in warfare; Alexander the Great used them after
encountering elephants in used in warfare in India. The most famous military
use was in 218 BC when Hannibal crossed the Alps with elephants, perhaps of
both African and Asian origin, fighting the Romans in the second Punic war.
Kublai Khan had a large wooden castle borne on the backs of four elephants;
within the ‘castle’ were cross-bow men and archers. Elephants have also been
trained to assist in executions, and even perform them.
The most useful role that elephants have played in their relationship with man
is as beasts of burden. Although not good at carrying heavy loads (up to
about 300 kg) it is a magnificent hauler and can easily pull a two tonne log. It
is for this reason that teams of elephants have been used for centuries in the
logging industry, although their use has significantly declined with the advent
of modern machinery. However there is now a demand from the tourist
industry in Asia, as they are an excellent means of taking tourists on safari
trips around wildlife parks, a practice which may involve over-working of the
animals at the height of the season.
Most use and training of elephants as working animals is and has been in Asia
and the Asian elephant is frequently referred to as ‘domesticated’. However,
33