Elephants Elephants - Wildpro - Twycross Zoo

Fig. 8b A waterfall in an enriched elephant paddock
3.6 Breeding in Zoos
The demographic situation for both species of elephant kept in captivity is not
good although it has improved over the last five years (see Section 3.7. on
population management), and the reproductive rate is approaching that
necessary to maintain a self-sustaining population 1. The European
populations are managed by the Asian Elephant EEP and the African
Elephant EEP. The EEPS are under the auspices of the EAZA Elephant TAG
whose mission is as follows:
“Elephants, both African and Asian are flagship species in our zoos. Because
of their appearance, intelligence and social behaviour, they form a core of
interest and empathy among our visitors. The main roles for elephants in our
zoos should be for education, conservation and research. The zoo population
should be self-sustaining, without any plan at the moment for reintroduction
into the wild. The Elephant TAG should strive for excellence in management
and welfare of elephants in captivity, taking into account the physical,
handling, medical and social needs of these animals. The TAG will benefit by
improving flow of information by sharing of knowledge, staff training,
research, education and publicity campaigns. This includes knowledge flow
with range states.
The primary goal of reproduction in captivity is to maintain the population
size as anticipated and planned by participating institutions, without having
to rely on importations of animals. In order for such a program to work, all
participating zoos are partners, whether they hold a breeding herd, nonbreeding
females, or bachelor males. Cooperation with breeding programs in
other geographic areas is important to increase genetic diversity.”
It should be noted that managing captive populations involves the movement
of animals between EAZA collections. Importation from elephant range
1 Updated and also see updated section 3.7.
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