Elephants Elephants - Wildpro - Twycross Zoo

• Shackling• Voice control• Use of the ankus or hook• Use of the electric goad or hotshot• Use of elephants in demonstrations• Staff training• Health and safety and risk assessmentsBIAZA, through its membership of responsible zoos and the executivemanagement, will follow through the implementation of this policy andguidelines and ensure that it is reviewed and revised annually.Zoos must continually assess their performance against BIAZA’s ElephantManagement Policy and the Secretary of State’s Standards of Modern ZooPractice (SSSMZP), with their defined standards and procedures, in order todemonstrate legal compliance and address legitimate public concerns.ELEPHANT MANAGEMENT POLICY STATEMENTElephants must only be kept in zoos as part of an overriding conservationmission so that they are in actively managed breeding programmes. Thesefollow the same guidelines as for other EEP programmes, i.e. the captivepopulation is managed to maintain an agreed level of genetic diversity andsize commensurate with that required to sustain a captive population for aminimum period of 100 years. This may mean that non-breeding elephantsare kept at some zoos to ensure maximization of the capacity for elephantbreeding zoos and control of the breeding population 1 .Their presence must enable progressive educational activities anddemonstrate links with field conservation projects and benign scientificresearch, leading to continuous improvements in breeding and welfarestandards.Zoos must exercise a duty of care so that standards of husbandry practices,housing, health and welfare management are humane and appropriate to theintelligence, social behaviour, longevity and size of elephants. All zoosshould aim to continuously improve welfare standards.Zoos must meet their moral and legal responsibility to ensure the safety ofvisitors and staff.1 This paragraph has been expanded to provide a clearer meaning for managed population.viii