Indoors Natural Substrates for Elephants & Medical Issues Associated With Hard Surfaces

7/22/2019 Indoors Natural Substrates for Elephants & Medical Issues Associated With Hard Surfaces

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OCT 10 2005 09:37 FR NAO PL NNINGIl\ Indoors Natural SUbslnates for Elephants clMedical Issues ssociated with Hard SUrfaces

ByAlan RoocroftElphant Bu.rlnus, Escondido, CA

PrololfUfIt is my hope that the infor tffltlon in this article will make us stop for Q minute and considecaptive life of ht elephant on tht


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Close friends and acquaintances working in the field of elephant management, and people hat have been advbing in zoos around the world have encourajed me to write his article concerningthe use of indoor natural substrates for elephants_ It was suggested that I should write about thesuccesses zoos arc having with this idea so hat the concept would become known and more widelyused and accepted.The comfort of captive elephants hll never been a topic that has been comprehensively addressedor fillly explored in any great depth by the elephant care community, and by the support or governingorganizations such as the USDA (United State1 Ocpartmcnt of Agriculture), the A2A (AmericanZoological ABSociation) or the EA2A (European Associlltion of Zoos Aquarium). In fact, theiinput has been minimal, tendina more to avoid the issues rather than address them. The informationat workshops, schools and at other elephant keeper gct-togcthers is usually directed towards thcontrol of the elephant whcther it be Free Contact or Protected. Long discussions on the merits oth handling system in operation and the keepers' open defense: of their prcfeJTcd system seem to bemore important topics ofdiscussion_ I bel icve that there is rarely a consideration to how the elephanis handling its environment and the confinement we provide- The elephant's natural biology ivirtually never a reference or benchmark used to guide captive care. The guidelines and standardwe write set the bar 50 low that it has nothing in common with the eleph11nt's long-term well-beingcomfort and health in our zaosKeeping captive elephants on natural substrates cannot be a new idea; after all, elephants spend thwhole time in nature on surfaces that they can interact with and manipulate, surfaces that move andyield when touched. Thus, why haven t natural yielding substrates been adopted earlier in thehistory of eJthibiting zoo elephants? After speaking to many people, the reasons for not consideringsand substrates or deep li tter on in-door exhibits, as far as I olln determine, has been convenience oin a few cases medical, (cleaning o n e r n ~ and the fear o colic and not beina able to disinfecefficiently).Thii paper is a di tc\lssion into the reasons and feasibil ity for keeping zoo cleph . nts on naturasurfaces, surfaces with which they can interact and which they can use in their daily lives 24 houra day, even when keepers are not present. The idea of providing natural substrates is not meant tohave any sort of scientific buis attached to it because, quite honestly, what I am suggestlna is noscience, but merely common sense for animal health and comfort.Some of the common problems that faco o;oo elephants are asa;oclated with and the direct result obeing housed on hard unyielding, cold and continuously drauahty and damp surfaces. Arthritisfoot absccues, pressure sores on checks and hips, knee calluses hat are sensitive to the touch andswellings at the: knee joints, etc, are the direct result ofkneeling on concre te floors. I have seen largeserum-filled swellings on elephant hips, shoulders and heads that are the direct result ofexposure tohard surfaces, even to the point where the elephant will only lie down on one side: or in a half-righposition to rest.As an elephant grows older it becomes more: inflexible in body as well as in mind, not too differenfrom us. Finding a comfortable sleeping position, for instance, will be harder taak for an oldeanimal when the only surface Is a hard fiat concrete pl d or some other version of hard substanceAlthough convenience and sometimes medical arc the reasons given, I can say for myself that, Isomeone had come to me with such an idea during my earlier years in elephant management, Iwould have laughed at the idea in a similar way as I lauahed at not chaining .. Jophants at nijht. Wehave done it this way for years so why change it? If I couldn t WllSh the floor, then I was not doingmy job correctly. In many ways this is very much likc the stcrcotypiclll behavior, one that is nouncommon In the elephants for which we care_ Today, however, I am convinced that a change inaubstrates, particularly in cold northern climates or in zoos that use indoor housing; at niaht as aprime holding re even in warm locations, Is one of he key elements of keeping elephant's healthyIons -erm, in zoo environment.The turnina point in my caae to consider the value of natural substratesw the firat irreparable footabscess I had seen, and elephants that wouldn t lie down to slccp at night - which in our zoos aremany. J was asked to treat an abscess and then I realized that I could not offer cngoing suc .enful


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OCT 10 2005 09:38 FR RO PLANNINGtreatment or repair the foot ifthG elephant coorinued to be housed in such sterile: unyieldinJ conditI was witnessing that abscesses were only the symptoms of a problem, not the actual problemeleplulnt's environment and the elephant's abnormal behavior oauserl by the environment waactual problem. I now believe that abscesses are avoidable. t goes without saying that anyabsces is a problem in itself but, if left without treatment or a change in environment iconsidered, will eventually kill an elephant .Poor fllcility 11nd exhibit desisn, plui the stresaflll and biological depletion on the elephant daily routines, all help to develop behavioral problems in captive elephants. Lower streas by lowthe waitina and anticipatory bchaviors in your elephants. Examine your daily routines, storockina, provide them with surfaces they can utilize and with which they can interact. Finenhance their natural biology, encourase natural tendencies in feeding and sleepin& pattems, cood habits in your elephants; only then can you start to repair the foot ab$ccss and divert psycbehavior.Hard surfaces. combined with repetitious rockins; and swaying behaviors, as well as anticipwaiting behaviors are the kiss of death for captive elephants. The elephant does not do well whis left with down-time , timu jus t waitinJ for the nextthin& to happen. Thus, securing your elep(whether with a gate or chains ) in a conveniently cleanable stall at night, one devoid ostimulation, is the worst kind of down-time ; chaining only increases the effects ofthe confinemJu.st so that everyone who ..


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another in the hiatory of zoos. fhey all have one aspect in cornrnon: they are all surfaces that arereasonably convenient to clean and in general t rms arc relatively costDffective In upkeep.We have moved away from elephant facilities like the one In the photg on the previous page, withthe new arellitectllral statements that are being p r e s ~ t e d We are building captive elephant areasthat look like the wild but do not act like the wild. Plastic plants, pour-on rock, bi rd music, concretefloora all create the idea ofwhat an elephant cnvironment should incorporate. But my question isDo gur new facilities rcpr ''ent anything better for the elephant? Can the elephant enact naturaltendencies or do anything it wo.uld normally do as an organism? Are we building environments fothe elephant's or for ourselves?In contrast I haYCI lln working wilh fiv iiiSt/lution.r that. onmy . c o m m t ~ n d o t i o n h


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r ~ = ~ ~ ~ The Dyblin on in Ireland, undirection of their visionary DirecOosterwegel, is presently consinstallin& a sand substrate into thelephant exhibit design. The Dublinembraced the idea for the whole insof their new faoility for all elephana natural substrate, cows includedthe most convincing factors was tbathe summer mo11ths in the outside yaone< ofDublin Zoo's two cows, can lto sleep on a very large sand mothe zoo has provided for just that us

the n


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and encompass more of he facility which is off public view. The reason for the enlargement of theand area, and a w ry positive shift in elephant husbandry and I must say, a oonsidcrable monetaryinvestment is quite simple: it bencftta the elephants. The zoo statrhas carefully observed and evaluatedthe usc of the sand by the elephants and weighed it against how elephants were kept in the past atRWPZOO and also, how they arc being kept in other zoos.The photo to the right shows the inside sandarea at RWPZOO where an elephant has laiddown to rest at night, using the topography ofthe ground to support tusks, head, neck and ,legs as they sleep. Most elephants try to attaina foetal position when sleeping; and the slopeof the mound helps older elephants tomanol llvrc when gettins up.Disney's Animal Kingdom in Florida has juststated to experiment with sand floorins in oneof the stalls for their African elephants. Theelephant manager who I was together with ona job at another zoo also saw the wisdom inwhat I was suggesting and implemented it at his facility. The idea is on the move.

Mcdic;aJIIIUII and pngoing uhy icaJ prpbltmS that an IU i td and llllrayated by theconyentjonal employmont of bard unyieldinz and noo interactly@ urfaces

Medical problems due to living on hardunyiel'din& surfaces, to which elephantshave been exposed since being kept incaptivity in the west, continues to tllke anincredible toll on many zoo elephants.Where possible, elephants enjoy rolling,resting and digging in sand piles twentyfours a day if they are provided.Generally however sand piles areprovided In zoos on an inconsistent basisand eleph nts only have access to sandoutside but even them many elephant yardsarc flat and boring with no stimulus value.Sand or natural substrates on indoor areashave not been widely considered at thispoint. But believe me it's coming.

Tusk wear on concrete flooring has been a big problem for elephants in zoos for many years. Somezoos have even reeorted to capping or metal banding the tusks so that tusk contact with the concreteis avoided. This has had mixed succoas. r have always wondered how mature bulls with large tu:;;kcan lie down on a flat level surfaoe to sleep, and as also always wondered when exactly does thetime comes that they stop lying down; how docs that vetY moment occur whon the animal says toItself: the pain and discomfort ofgoing down and then getting back up again is not worth the benefitof being down. When growing up. I always heard that elephants could sleep standing up. Thatfascinating to mo then like a lot of other elephant mystic. Today I am not so sure how accoptablcsuch a statement has been and what effect it might have had on tho health of thousands ohoo andcircus elcph11nts that had to sleep standing up because their quarters were inadequate. Elephants


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need to rest, they need to take their 11nonnousweight otr their large feet, and they cannot doit easily on a flat or hard s11rf'ace.Pressure is the worst thing for elephant's feet,particlllar for older and outof-condition, overweight and lethargic animals. The lack ofmuscle tone and abnormal bono developmentin the legs can only mean that their feet takemore abnormal prcuure than they wouldnorm11llY take in nature: The skeleton is meantto carry the weight of the body with the helpof the muscles but, if the muscles aro limp and sagging, then the weight is only going odown. Weight distribution in elephants is a 60%-40% split most of the weight being carriedfront feet. f hese percentll-gcs are disturbed or the elephant is compensating because of aabnormality, the percentages will shifl creating damging pressure where other foot and lstart carrying the extr11 weight

..... . ' ' sores on the htemporal areas, large uncomand sensitive spots on

from lying on concrete fJ ()m:m.o,n in our captive eThis old cltcus elephant haslarge sinus growths andbump above the knee onside; she had none on the oThese sinuses are usually fa clear serum and, in my e>they are benign swellinas textreme discomfort to thewhen touched and will obelephant fi-om lyini on thatthey have no otherconsequences. If the de

===--------- made to operate, they taklong time to heal, and this then leaves an uncomfortable sear makin lying down even hasinus itself is better left alone in my opinion if no weepin or dr11inage is present.

The following photos are 'of hip sinus that was operated upon whilst the animal was under it took five yem to heal. The original hole was 6 square and 4 deep on the initial day oand it was extremely dlftiCillt to keep clean. Throuahout the healina process, lyina: down oside was out of the question for this animal, at least at first but, as the Inside face ofhardened and dried, the elephant would lie down on that side also. This particular sinus dbecause of an uncomfortable stall arrangement where she could only lie against the wall oin a half upright position, thus stretching and applying, r believe, abnonn11l pressure on thand thus oausing a sinus at the hip joint to occur.


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Elbows and the t ~ m p o r l area of the head aretWO other areas that suffer tremendously fromcontinual contact, either during mandatorywash or performance routines, or at night whenthe elephant is t 'Ying to find a position to nston the hard surface of its stall.

When an elephant is in the first' staaes nf oint discomfort and it appears difficult for the Jnimal toattain a atretoh position during a routine care, one should alter the daily routine until the underlyingnature of the problem has been detected andpossibly alleviated. All too often I hear thatthe animal is playing with you, she knows howto lie down . This, of COU11ie, co11ld be thewrong answer. Check her kneepads, front andrear; If they arc tender to touch, she probablyhas a pressure sore developing under the hardcallous surface or tho knee. fhis typo ofcondition needs time to heal, so aliiyin& downroutines should be discontinued until the extentof the damage is known. Every considerationshould be given to the animal's c:omfort, thusobservation is the key. In the photo at right asoft rubber pad was used as an interim solution to soothe tender knee joint and help the elephantgain eonfldcmce in lying down again.Re-evaluate your routines. The knee joint of an elephant is not inwnt to be a weightboaring jointthus the . rretch positions where all four knees arc on the ground at one time for the elephant t bewashed or brushed off is 110 abnormal position, the half right position is even worst because all ofthe il'ont body weight is on one kn - Pressure and tissue damage in the knee joints occurs rapidly.


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OCT 10 2005 09:43 FR NAO PLANNINGWho has not seen temporal or hippressure sores on elephanlll? They areso common in our zoos that, whenspeaking to young keepers aboutthem, many think it is a normal partof the elephant s physiology,something we: should expect withcaptive elephants. How sad to thinkthat a medical issue caused byinconsistencies in our husbandrypractices has reached a level ofnonnaley. What other inconsistc:m::ic:sand detrimental practices to ourelephants in our husbandry havea lev .. of normalcy?

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An elepho.nt's foot is not designed for continuous .:ontact with hard surfaces_ Their feet nundulating topography and sideward motion that strengthens tendons and ligaments so that grow strona: and straight. They need dry sand, sometimes wet sand through which to run thon a 24-hour basis. I just recently visited a zoo in the west that had built a brand new ecomple11:, the outside yards were so flat it was if someone had purposely use a laser level onget them so flat.Elephants are not a vehicle or an inanimate object; you cannot just put them away into the sanight on hold, waiting for the next convenient time to tak them out or put them through a corientated activity. The elephant has a very distinct and unique biology that needs to be enacta 24-our period. An eight-hour keeper shift means absolutely nothing to an elephant, and thetime, the 16 hours standing around waiting for the klll pers to return is devastating to an elephysical and mental well-being.Pre$sure t the feet and tissue damage is relativity quick to start and it advances rapidlyattended to by experts. Below are two examples ofabscesses in elephants' feet that, I believtheir root cause: in continual pressure, standing n a confined space and on hard surfaces.

The first photo to the h ft is an Aelephant that was allowed to atastereotype in her reasonablyenclosure at a gate for yearspending 16 hours in her stall aon a concrete floor doing thething. Eventually, the rocking caused irreparable t i s ~ u c damboth of her number two nails front feet.


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The second picture to the right is anextreme case of an abscess in an Asianelephant's left front foot. This animalhad abscesses In the other oot also. Theenvironment that this animal lived in foryears was totally unsuitable for herbiology and consequently, she died frommedical issues related (I assume) to herfoot conditions.

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Once an elephant becomes infparticularly as far as the feet and jare concerned it will decline deteriorate rapidly. What further impthe elephant's health and compromits condition is the fact that it cannotadequately. The elephant in this pholeft, in the latter days of its life provided a tire so that it might at redistribute 8ome of its body weigorder that its front feet and leg jocould rest.Plcase remember, the elephant cannoaway from the environment that we provided for itWith acceS to natural substrathroughout its whole life, the eleplearns that it can manipulate the sanduse t to its advantage. Lei jointstendons, feet muscles and ligambecome strong and flexible. Anticipaand repetitive behaviors that encoustereotypical motion are greatly redIf feeding strategies and other behavfumirure that will enact and encounatural behaviorn are installed along

s11nd tloorin&. Digging, kneeUng and lying down on a regular basis, even at night, 24- hours a 365 days a year, encourages behaviorn in the elcphant and instills good habits that the elepbenefits from over the long term of its life in the zoo. Even if a healthy elephant learns that it cafind a comfonable position In a concrete stall, it wlll eventually stop lying down because nowo:lcphant knows that it cannot find a oomfonable poaltlon to rest; it becomes a bodily habit oelephant and, in essence, the elephant gives up o the process and renns to the next bcst possibileaning against a wall with ill head or sides, causing other problems.


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OCT 10 2005 0844 FR NAO PLANNINGOld-style Elephant

K e e p l n ~ and HousingFinding elephants in ununhealthy b iol ogy-deprogenvironments is not hard ezoos today worldwide. Olfacility design encouragedphysically-depleting behavhour ofwaiting at doon; chaplace and constantly pacinkeepers arrived was and isWe arc not so f11r from thaleft in our modem zoos ev

Even though chaining was abolished in many institutions many years ago tho : elephantstereotypical habits to another area of the bam just to stand and rock in a comer or at a darea of the bam. Removing the chains was an easy decision for zoo administrators beunnarural for the elcpllant to be restrained for 6 at night. But what else should we sec as dto our captive elephants? I still see huge steps that must be taken in order ttl bring our Zt>management to only a basic level of welfare for the elephant.New Elephant Fadlilles with New IdeasTheN are unfortunately not manyzoos at the moment where iMovatedelephant biological supporting ideasare being implemented.The present elephant facilities arenot elephant-friendly by definitionand it is my opinion that the presentdesigns have a tendency of causingmany long-term problems for ourelephants both physically andmentally/socially. Old ideas aredusted off and reinstated; some howit seems to be difficult for the designprocess to get out of the historical

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often finds itself. Effectively whouse is opened to the public fotime it will be 5 years out-of-daon the day it s opened. Elephanstanding on hard unyielding 5Ulong hours in the winter and theoff the ground and stare at concfor long portions of the daydifferent from the way it was yThey are ~ t n d i n g tround folooking at t walls until tbc keeptn they all do what they can wathat is the nonn for man:r ofelephants.


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I have to ny at this point, and in defense of our zoos knowing the people like I know them, that this In no way a malicious act or clone with malicious intent. The i i$ue of change is so lar&e anoverwhelming when dealing with captive elephant management that It is not easy to activateforward motion that willllenetlt the elephants long-term. I know and work with many people in ozoos worldwide who would change the situation for elephants if it were within dteir power. Anthere are some people who 1 work for who have, to date, radically changed the lot for elephantstheir zoos in a positive way.The Chester Zoo built a revolutionary open-space elephant building In the 1960's for their then twAfrican bull$ and one Asian -female. This visionary idea never caught on on a grand scale becaunobody in the elephant communithen thought that elephants realneeded space, both physical anvisuaL The zoo community bacthen, myself included. saw thema beast of burden whose lackfreedom could be easily justifibecause thousands in Asia weunder the same circumstances.

Another idea that ~ i d n t catch onin the early SO's I was part ofa teaof people heading up an idea forelephant reserve and universiconcept at the San Diego WilAnimal Park in C11lifornia.

originated the idea because I was beginning to sec tremendously inequity, even back then, in tway elephants were being kept, the way people were being trained, and finally in the way we wemeeting our mission -a sustainable elephant populations in captivity. So the idea of creating a laropen scope pla


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Indoors Natural Substrates for Elephants & Medical Issues Associated With Hard Surfaces