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Wallmark, Charlotte, 2008. The domesticated Thai elephants as a sustainable resource : a comparative behavioural study on camp and zoo elephants. SLU, Dept. of Animal Environment and Health, Uppsala. Uppsala: SLU, Dept. of Animal Environment and Health

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Abstract

In this study the welfare among domesticated Asian elephants in Thailand (Maximus indicus) and Zoo elephants in Sweden and Thailand were investigated. The aim of the study was to see if elephants owned by local people and hired by camp managers showed a higher frequency of stereotypic behaviour than those owned by the camp, if zoo elephant perform a lot of stereotypic behaviours and what could be done to the decrease that level, if calves contribute to an increased welfare of their mothers and what could be done to ease the problems connected with musth in bulls. The study was performed at two different camps in Thailand; Thai Elephant Conservation Centre (TECC) and Surin Elephant Study Centre (SESC) and three zoos; Dusit Zoo, Borås Zoo and Kolmården Zoo. In total 39 individuals were studied and their behaviour was recorded each minute in a time interval protocol during four hours. Interviews were also carried out with mahouts and elephant keepers. No significant difference was seen in time-budget when comparing the two camps in Thailand. At Dusit zoo the level of stereotypic behaviour was higher than expected while little stereotypic behaviour was observed at the Swedish zoos. Altered feeding regimes will most probably decrease the level of stereotypic behaviour. Calves contribute to low level of stereotypic behaviour among their mothers and a wider variety of behaviours were seen. More money should be invested in research concerning musth control as musth related problems causes large animal welfare problems.

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I denna studie undersötes välfärden hos domesticerade asiatiska elefanter
(Maximus indicus) i Thailand samt hos djurparkselefanter i Sverige och Thailand.
Studiens syfte var att ta reda på om elefanter som ägdes av lokalbefolkningen och
som hyrdes ut till elefantcenter uppvisade en högre frekvens stereotypisk beteende
än dem som ägdes av centren direkt, om zooelefanter uppvisade en hög frekvens
stereotypiskt beteende och vad man kan göra för att sänka nivån, om kalvar bidrar
till ökad välfärd för sin mamma och vad som kan göras för att minska de
mustrelaterade problemen hos tjurar. Studien utfördes på två elefantcenter i
Thailand; Thai Elephant Conservation Centre (TECC) och Surin Elephant Study
Centre (SESC) samt tre djurparker; Dusit Zoo, Borås Djurpark och Kolmårdens
Djurpark. Totalt studerades 39 individer vars beteende registrerades i ett protokoll
var minut under fyra timmars tid. Intervjuer hölls med mahouter och
elefantskötare. Ingen signifikant skillnad sågs vid jämförelse av de två centren i
Thailand. På Dusit Zoo var nivån stereotypt beteende högre än förväntat och lite
stereotypt beteende sågs i de svenska djurparkerna. Förändringar i
utfodringsrutiner har störst påverkan för att minska stereotypt beteende. Kalvar
bidrar till en låg nivå av stereotyp beteende hos sina mammor samt ett mer
varierat beteende. Mer pengar bör investeras i forskning kring kontrollen av must
eftersom mustrelaterade problem orsakar sämre välfärd hos elefanterna.

Main title:The domesticated Thai elephants as a sustainable resource
Subtitle:a comparative behavioural study on camp and zoo elephants
Authors:Wallmark, Charlotte
Supervisor:Lidfors, Lena
Examiner:UNSPECIFIED
Series:Studentarbete / Sveriges lantbruksuniversitet, Institutionen för husdjurens miljö och hälsa
Volume/Sequential designation:2008:58
Year of Publication:2008
Level and depth descriptor:Other
Student's programme affiliation:VY002 Veterinary Medicine Programme 330 HEC
Supervising department:(VH) > Dept. of Animal Environment and Health
Keywords:elephant, welfare, Thailand, mahout, maximus indicus, stereotypic, domesticated, behaviour
URN:NBN:urn:nbn:se:slu:epsilon-s-6838
Permanent URL:
http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:slu:epsilon-s-6838
Subject. Use of subject categories until 2023-04-30.:?? 7032 ??
Animal ecology
Language:English
Deposited On:11 Sep 2017 14:49
Metadata Last Modified:13 Sep 2017 08:42

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