EMBARGOED UNTIL 2PM U.S. EASTERN TIME ON THE THURSDAY BEFORE THIS DATE: Compromised Survivorship in Zoo Elephants

Wildanimals can experience poorwelfarewhen held captive (1), an effect with eth-ical and practical implications. In zoos, the welfare of African elephants (Loxodonta africana) and Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) has long caused concern. Infanticide, Herpes, tuberculosis, lameness, in-fertility, and stereotypic behavior are prevalent (2), and zoo elephant populations are not self-sustaining without importation (3). We com-piled data from over 4500 individ-uals to compare survivorship in zoos with protected populations in range countries. Data represent-ing about half the global zoo pop-ulation (1960 to 2005) came from European “studbooks ” and the Eu-ropean Elephant Group (4). We focused on females as relevant to population viability (N = 786, both wild-caught and captive-born; 30