REVIEW: ELEPHANTS CONCEPTS IN CARE AND WELFARE IN CAPTIVITY 63 Int. Zoo Yb. (2006) 40: 63–79 © The Zoological Society of London Concepts in the care and welfare of captive elephants

Zoos are duty bound to maintain a high standard of welfare for all animals for which they are respons-ible. For elephants, this represents a greater chal-lenge than for many other species; their sheer size, sophisticated social life, high level of intelligence and large behavioural repertoire, combined with their origins in tropical and subtropical climates mean that replicating the physical, social and environ-mental requirements needed for a high standard of welfare in captivity is a significant challenge. This is compounded by the difficulties in measuring welfare generally, and specifically for animals such as ele-phants within zoo environments. Evidence does exist relating to the longevity, reproductive success and the health status of captive elephants which suggest