PDF(Pubmed)
Abstract：
A quarter of Asian elephants are captive, with greater than 90% of these tamed and cared for by handlers (mahouts) in Asia. Although taming is a much-discussed welfare issue, no studies to our knowledge have empirically assessed its impact on calves, and dialogue surrounding taming often lacks perspectives of those involved. Here, we interviewed mahouts involved in taming and monitored five physiological measures (faecal glucocorticoid metabolites (FGMs), serum cortisol, glucose, creatine kinase (CK) and heterophil:lymphocyte (H:L)) over the first 10 days of taming and following six months in 41 calves undergoing taming and 16 control individuals. These measures assess the duration and intensity of stress during taming. Interviews suggested mahouts had major concerns for their safety when discussing changing taming practices, an important consideration for future management. Calf physiological measures were elevated by 50-70% (FGMs/cortisol/glucose), 135% (H:L) and greater than 500% (CK) over the first few days of taming, indicative of elevated stress, not seen to the same extent in control adults. Some measures stabilized sooner (glucose/cortisol/CK/FGM: 7-10 days) than others (H:L: one-two months), indicating mostly acute stress. Our findings inform the welfare of approximately 15 000 captive elephants around the world. Future studies should compare taming in different populations and consider calf and mahout welfare.
摘要：
四分之一的亚洲象被圈养,在亚洲，超过90%的这些被管理员(mahouts)驯服和照顾。尽管驯服是一个备受讨论的福利问题，据我们所知，没有研究对小牛的影响进行实证评估，围绕驯服的对话往往缺乏相关人员的观点。这里,我们采访了参与驯服的mahouts，并监测了五种生理措施(粪便糖皮质激素代谢物(FGMs)，血清皮质醇,葡萄糖，在驯服的前10天和六个月后，肌酸激酶（CK）和异型：淋巴细胞（H：L））在41只接受驯服的小牛和16只对照个体中。这些措施评估驯服期间应力的持续时间和强度。采访表明，在讨论改变驯服方法时，麻将对他们的安全有重大担忧，未来管理的重要考虑因素。小牛生理指标提高了50-70％（FGM/皮质醇/葡萄糖），135%（H：L）和大于500%（CK）在驯服的头几天，表明压力升高，在控制成年人中没有看到相同的程度。一些措施（葡萄糖/皮质醇/CK/FGM：7-10天）比其他措施（H：L：1-2个月）更快稳定，表明主要是急性应激。我们的发现为世界各地大约15000头圈养大象的福利提供了信息。未来的研究应该比较不同人群的驯服，并考虑小腿和mahout福利。
