Elephant enclosures and behaviour - Dissertation

[Laurendd93]

Hello,

I am currently studying a degree in Animal Management and my chosen topic for my dissertation is the study of the how the enclosures of captive elephants impact on their behaviour.

I would greatly appreciate any examples or happenings they may know of and specific stereotypical or abnormal behaviours which may take place with captive elephants depending on their enclosures.

**Also relative websites would be very helpful**

Thanks, Lauren

 

[gerenuk]

What have you found so far?

 

[Laurendd93]

I haven't found much yet, I am also focusing on comparing the behaviour of captive elephants to wild elephants but I forgot to mention it in the thread.
Do you have anything that could help me please?

 

[Yassa]

Well, I recommend you to start visiting zoos and spend a lot of time observing elephants. And then do a field trip to Africa or Asia to do the same with wild elephants. That`s the only way to do what you plan to do. If that gets too expensive, limit your dissertation to studying zoo elephants under different conditions. You surely don`t expect to write a scientific paper based on anecdotical evidence from the internet, do you?

 

[DavidBrown]

I haven't found much yet, I am also focusing on comparing the behaviour of captive elephants to wild elephants but I forgot to mention it in the thread.
Do you have anything that could help me please?

If you want a contact studying wild elephants then I would recommend contacting someone at Ian Douglas Hamilton's organization Save the Elephants. They have a team of people studying various aspects of wild elephant behavior across Kenya and other parts of Africa. Perhaps they can help advise you on that aspect of your interest. There is contact information on their website.

The Chester Zoo has a renowned zoo research program. Perhaps someone there can help direct you to someone in the UK doing captive elephant research in your neck of the woods.