de Oliveira, C.A., G.D. West, R. Houck, and M. Leblanc (2004). Control of musth in an Asian elephant bull (Elephas maximus) using leuprolide acetate. Journal of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine 35(1): 70-6.
NAL Call Number: SF601.J6
Abstract: The results of long-term administration of leuprolide acetate (LA) depot in a 52-yr-old Asian elephant bull (Elephas maximus) for control of musth are presented. Twelve injections were administered for 6 yr during our interpretati
on of early musth or "premusth." Intervals between musth periods during the study varied from 2 to 34 mo. Blood samples, drawn weekly, were assayed for serum testosterone concentrations; mean levels were 11.78 +/- 1.97 nmol/L throughout the
first 26 mo
of the study, 7.28 +/- 1.28 nmol/L during the following 21 mo, and 0.45 +/- 0.035 nmol/L in the last 34 mo of this study. Early musth signs ceased within 3 days of drug administration after 10 of 12 injections. The mean serum testosterone
concentrations
were significantly decreased by the last 34 mo of the study. The results suggest leuprolide is a suitable alternative for controlling or preventing (or both) musth in captive Asian elephants, although permanent reproductive effects may occur. Zoos
and wildlife conservation institutions could benefit from the use of LA in Asian elephants to increase the male availability in captivity, consequently ensuring genetic diversity and the perpetuation of the species.
Descriptors: drug effects behavior, physiology, gonadorelin agonists, leuprolide administration and dosage, drug effects on aggression, blood, drug effects on eliminative behavior, leuprolide pharmacology, drug effects on sex behavior, social
dominance,
testosterone.
Dumon, M., J. Stevens, and L. Van Elsacker. (2003). An elephantine problem? A study on elephant behaviour. Proceedings of the Fifth Annual Symposium on Zoo Research, Marwell Zoological Park, Federation of Zoological Gardens of Great Britain and
Ireland, London, UK, p. 262-265. 342 p.
Descriptors: Asian elephant, Elephas maximus, aggressive behavior, female dominance, aggression in captivity, Belgium.
Feng, L. and L. Zhang (2005). Habitat selection by Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) in Xishuangbanna, Yunnan, China. Acta Theriologica Sinica 25(3): 229-236. ISSN: 1000-1050.
Descriptors: Asian elephant, Elephas maximus, habitat preference, forest, woodland, bamboo, evergreen, broadleaf mixed forest, shrubland, grassland.
Language of Text: Chinese, with Chinese and English summaries.
Freeman, E.W., E. Weiss, and J.L. Brown (2004). Examination of the interrelationships of behavior, dominance status, and ovarian activity in captive Asian and African elephants. Zoo Biology 23(5): 431-448. ISSN: 0733-3188.
NAL Call Number: QL77.5.Z6
Descriptors: ovarian activity, Asian elephants, African elephants, dominance status, behavior, interrelationships.
Greenwood, D.R., D. Comeskey, M.B. Hunt, and L.E. Rasmussen (2005). Chemical communication: chirality in elephant pheromones. Nature 438(7071): 1097-8.
NAL Call Number: 472 N21
Abstract: Musth in male elephants is an annual period of heightened sexual activity and aggression that is linked to physical, sexual and social maturation. It is mediated by the release of chemical signals such as the pheromone frontalin, which
exists in
two chiral forms (molecular mirror images, or enantiomers). Here we show that enantiomers of frontalin are released by Asian elephants in a specific ratio that depends on the animal's age and stage of musth, and that different responses are
elicited in
male and female conspecifics when the ratio alters. This precise control of communication by molecular chirality offers insight into societal interactions in elephants, and may be useful in implementing new conservation protocols.
Descriptors: heterocyclic chemistry of bicyclo compounds, heterocyclic pharmacology of bicyclo compounds, physiology, pheromones chemistry, pheromones secretion, drug effects on animal sex behavior, aging physiology, heterocyclic metabolism of
bicyclo
compounds, pheromones pharmacology, sex behavior, animal physiology, stereoisomerism.
Isaza, R. and R.P. Hunter (2004). Drug delivery to captive Asian elephants - treating Goliath. Current Drug Delivery 1(3): 291-8.
Abstract: Captive Asian elephants have been maintained in captivity by humans for over 4000 years. Despite this association, there is little published literature on the treatment of elephant diseases or methods of drug administration to these
animals.
Elephants in captivity are generally healthy and require few therapeutic interventions over the course of their lifetime. However, when they become acutely ill, treatment becomes a serious issue. The successful and consistent administration of
therapeutics
to elephants is formidable in an animal that presents significant limitations in drug delivery options. The single most important factor in administering drugs to an elephant is the animal's cooperation in accepting the medication. Working around
elephants
can be very dangerous and this is magnified when working around sick or injured animals where the elephant is subject to increased stress, pain, and unusual situations associated with treatment. The large body size of the Asian elephant produces
a separate set of issues. In this paper, methods of drug administration and their associated limitations will be reviewed. Considerations of medicating such large animals can serve to highlight the problems and principles of treatment that are inherent in
these species.
Descriptors: zoo animal physiology, drug delivery system methods, drug administration routes, veterinary medicine methods.
Litchfield, P. (2005). Leaders and matriarchs - a new look at elephant social hierarchies. International Zoo News 52(6, No. 343): 338-339. ISSN: 0020-9155.
NAL Call Number: QL76.I58
Descriptors: Asian elephants, Elephas maximus, social hierarchy, observations, captive herd, wildlife park, England, Kent, observations, leaders, matriarchs.
Malhotra, A.K. and Manoj Kumar (2003). Management of musth Indian elephant at National Zoological Park, New Delhi. Zoos' Print Journal 18(10): 8. ISSN: 0971-6378.
Descriptors: Indian elephant, musth, behavior, management, case report, clinical aspects, zoo elephant, Elephas maximus, New Delhi.
Martin, F. and C. Niemitz (2003). "Right-trunkers" and "left-trunkers": side preferences of trunk movements in wild Asian elephants (Elephas maximus). Journal of Comparative Psychology 117(4): 371-9.
NAL Call Number: BF671.J6
Abstract: In this article, the side preferences of feeding-related trunk movements of free-ranging Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) were investigated for the first time. It is hypothesized that a functional asymmetry of the trunk is
necessary to
perform skillful feeding movements more efficiently. This might be connected with a corresponding hemispheric specialization. Video recordings of 41 wild elephants provided frequencies and durations of the following trunk-movement categories:
object
contact, retrieval, and reaching. In each category, individual side preferences were found. The strength of side preferences varied between the trunk-movement categories and the sexes. Mean durations of retrieval and reaching correlated negatively with
the strength of side biases. Comparing the side preferences in the unpaired trunk with analogous phenomena in other unpaired grasping organs and in primate handedness. the authors discuss possible explanations for the evolution of asymmetries in unpaired
grasping organs.
Descriptors: brain physiology, choice behavior, laterality physiology, movement, behavior, videotape recording.
Nissani, M. (2006). Do Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) apply causal reasoning to tool-use tasks? Journal of Experimental Psychology. Animal Behavior Processes 32(1): 91-6.
NAL Call Number: QL750.J682
Descriptors: tool use, causual reasoning, associative learning, food reward, clinical trials.
Nissani, M., D. Hoefler Nissani, U.T. Lay, and U.W. Htun (2005). Simultaneous visual discrimination in Asian elephants. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior 83(1): 15-29.
Abstract: Two experiments explored the behavior of 20 Asian elephants (Elephas aximus) in simultaneous visual discrimination tasks. In Experiment 1, 7 Burmese logging elephants acquired a white+/black- discrimination, reaching criterion in
a mean of 2.6 sessions and 117 discrete trials, whereas 4 elephants acquired a black+/white- discrimination in 5.3 sessions and 293 trials. One elephant failed to reach criterion in the white+/black- task in 9 sessions and 549 trials, and 2 elephants
failed to
reach criterion in the black+/white- task in 9 sessions and 452 trials. In Experiment 2, 3 elephants learned a large/small transposition problem, reaching criterion within a mean of 1.7 sessions and 58 trials. Four elephants failed to reach
criterion
in 4.8 sessions and 193 trials. Data from both the black/white and large/small discriminations showed a surprising age effect, suggesting that elephants beyond the age of 20 to 30 years either may be unable to acquire these visual discriminations or may
require an inordinate number of trials to do so. Overall, our results cannot be readily reconciled with the widespread view that elephants possess exceptional intelligence.
Descriptors: discrimination psychology, visual perception, aging, behavior, cognition, visual acuity.
Oliveira, C.A. de, G.D. West, R. Houck, and M. Leblanc (2004). Control of musth in an Asian elephant bull (Elephas maximus) using leuprolide acetate. Journal of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine 35(1): 70-76. ISSN: 1042-7260.
NAL Call Number: SF601.J6
Descriptors: Asian elephant, bull, musth, behavior, testosterone, control, leuprolide acetate, Elephas maximus.
Rasmussen, L., V. Krishnamurthy, and R. Sukumar (2005). Behavioural and chemical confirmation of the preovulatory pheromone, (Z) -7-dodecenyl acetate, in wild Asian elephants: its relationship to musth. Behaviour 142(3): 351-396. ISSN:
0005-7959.
NAL Call Number: 410 B393
Descriptors: Asian elephant, Elephas maximus, age, reproductive behavior, musth, mating strategies, female preovulatory hormone, pheromones, preovulatory urinary hormone, social behavior, India, preovulatory hormone identification, male
chemosensory
responses.
Rees, P.A. (2004). Low environmental temperature causes an increase in stereotypic behaviour in captive Asian elephants (Elephas maximus). Journal of Thermal Biology 29(1): 37-43. ISSN: 0306-4565.
NAL Call Number: QP82.2.T4J6
Descriptors: captive Asian elephants, behavior, low environmental temperature, stress, stress response, steriotypic behavior, Elephas maximus.
Rees, P.A. (2004). Some preliminary evidence of the social facilitation of mounting behavior in a juvenile bull Asian elephant (Elephas maximus). Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science 7(1): 49-58.
NAL Call Number: HV4701.J68
Abstract: This study recorded sexual behavior within a captive herd of 8 Asian elephants for approximately 230 hr on 50 days over a period of 10 months. The study observed a single adult and a single juvenile bull mounting cows more than 160
times.
When the juvenile bull was between 4 years, 2 months and 4 years, 8 months old, he exhibited mounting behavior only on days when adult mounting occurred. Adult mounting always occurred first. Beyond the age of 4 years, 8 months, the juvenile bull
exhibited
spontaneous mounting behavior in the absence of adult mounting. This suggests that mounting behavior may develop because of social facilitation. Determining the significance of the presence of sexually active adults in the normal development of sexual
behavior in juveniles will require further studies. Encouraging the establishment of larger captive herds containing adults and calves of both sexes-if their presence is important-would improve the welfare of elephants in zoos and increase their
potential conservation value.
Descriptors: sex behavior, social environment, zoo animals.
Rees, P.A. (2004). Unreported appeasement behaviours in the Asian elephant (Elephas maximus). Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society 101(1): 71-78. ISSN: 0006-6982.
NAL Call Number: 513 B63
Descriptors: Asian elephant, Elephas maximus, agonistic behavior, submissive behavior, captive population, adult bull, cows. bow down, musth.
Rees, P.A. (2003). Early experience of sexual behaviour in Asian elephants. International Zoo News 50(4): 200-206; No 325. ISSN: 0020-9155.
NAL Call Number: QL76.I58
Descriptors: Asian elephant, Elephas maximus, reproductive behavior, early experience of sexual behavior, captive observations.
Roocroft, A. (2005). Indoors natural substrates for elephants & medical issues associated with hard surfaces. Animal Keepers' Forum 32(10): 480-492. ISSN: 0164-9531.
NAL Call Number: QL77.5.A54
Descriptors: Elephantidae, housing techniques, indoor natural substrates, medical issues associated with hard surfaces, treatment techniques, injuries.
Swain, D. and L.K. Singh (2003). Musth in female asian elephant. Zoos' Print Journal 18(9): 1202.
Descriptors: Asian elephant, female, reproduction, musth.
Vodicka, R. and J. Kral. (2003). Purulent trunk dermatitis in a male Ceylon elephant (Elephas maximus maximus). Erkrankungen der Zootiere: Verhandlungsbericht des 41 Internationalen Symposiums uber die Erkrankungen der Zoo und Wildtiere,
Rome, Italy, p. 151-153.
NAL Call Number: SF996.I5
Descriptors: Asian elephant, trunk, purulent dermatitis, pyoderma, skin diseases, treatment, aggressive male, anesthesia, handling, Elephas maximus.