Can zoos breed elephants?

In captive elephants, the infant mortality rate is a shocking 40%. Captive facilities keep breeding elephants despite the deaths, and continue to breed by any means. At Louisville Zoo, Mikki had a baby Scotty, following one of several pregnancies forced upon her through AI. In 2010, her 3-year-old son died of colic.



People Also Ask

Elephants in circuses and roadside zoos are denied everything that gives their life meaning. Many become neurotic, unhealthy, depressed, and aggressive as a result of the inhumane conditions in which they're kept.

MORE DETAILS

Broadly, some elephant experts say urban zoos simply don't have the space that African elephants, who roam extensive distances in the wild to forage for hundreds of pounds of vegetation each day, need for a normal life.

MORE DETAILS

Elephants suffer in captivity. Elephants in the wild have one of the largest home ranges, often walking up to 40 miles each day. In captivity, whether it's a circus, zoo, or other commercial venue, captivity can not nearly replicate their natural environment.

MORE DETAILS

From an animal rights standpoint, humans do not have a right to breed, capture, and confine other animals—even if those species are endangered. Being a member of an endangered species doesn't mean the individual animals should be afforded fewer rights. Animals in captivity suffer from boredom, stress, and confinement.

MORE DETAILS

Without exchange between zoos, inbreeding rate per generation of the whole population was 1.93%. With a breeding circle, it ranged between 0.64% and 1.47%.

MORE DETAILS

Babies are great crowd-pleasers, but when the babies grow up, they don't attract the same number of people, so zoos often sell them off in order to make room for younger animals. The unwanted adult animals are sometimes sold to “game” farms where hunters pay to kill them; some are killed for their meat and/or hides.

MORE DETAILS

Animals at these unsafe, non accredited zoos are often at risk for overbreeding, which can lead to overcrowded zoo spaces, with animals being sold to other zoos and circuses without as much thought to each animal's best interests.

MORE DETAILS

This study reviewed 45 case studies, involving 17 carnivore species, and found that only 30% of captive animals released survived.

MORE DETAILS

Anything remaining will be cremated, including even the tiniest of animals. “Everything from guppies to elephants is incinerated,” says Neiffer. While burials were once commonplace at zoos, very few bury their animals anymore.

MORE DETAILS