Managing elephants in the modern world: the impact of changes in traditional handling on semi-captive Asian elephant welfare

The current extinction crisis is leaving us increasingly reliant on captive populations to maintain vulnerable species. Approximately one third of the remaining global Asian elephant population (~15,000) are managed by humans and live in captivity to some extent (1). The vast majority reside in semi-captive conditions in range countries, and their relationship with humans stretches back millennia. Despite this long history, they have never been fully domesticated as they have always reproduced independently of humans (2). Instead, we rely on expert knowledge accumulated over generations of specialised elephant handlers, known as mahouts, to handle these essentially wild animals. This ancien…