African elephants have been in North American zoos for
over 200 years.The current AZA studbook
for the African elephant, a computerized database of each
individual animal under human care, states that there are
approximately 171 females and 73 males being exhibited in 65 institutions across North America.While
36 of these animals were born on-site at zoological institutions,
the vast majority of the adults were caught in the wild
as juveniles during the ivory trade of the 1970s and 1980s.The maintenance of elephants in
zoos requires that careful consideration given to exhibit
size, compatible social grouping, sheer physical management,There is an increased
interest in the activity budgets of zoo elephants as it
relates to both physical well-being
and health care.