The effect of penning and chaining on circus elephant behavior

Abstract

The behavior of 10 Asian (Elephas moimus) and 3 rographics. African (Loxodonta africans) elephants from the Carson & Barnes Circus was studied to determine 1) the elect of penning and chaining on behavior, 2) the elect of location on behavior, and 3) the potential factors influencing individual variation in behavior. The elephants were video recorded at six locations during the 1997 performance season. At two locations the elephants were chained on macadam and at four locations the elephants were penned on either grass or dirt. Focal animal point sampling of each elephant's behavior was made from the videotapes at a-min intervals. Ingestion and locomotion activities occurred more (P=.00O1) and social and stereotypic activities occurred less (P=.0001) when the elephants were penned than when they were chained. Differences were found in ingestion (P<.05), social (P<.05), and stereotypic (P<.05) activities between penned locations, but only social activity differed (P<.05) between chained locations. The elephants were classified into three age groups: under 20 years old, 20 to 40 years old, and over 40 years old. A1l age groups engaged in more stereotypic activity when chained than when penned (P<,0038). There was an interaction between age and treatment (P=.0001), with the youngest elephants exhibiting the most stereotypic activity and the oldest the least. Additionally, the two younger groups exhibited more locomotion activity (P<.0005), and the youngest group exhibited more resting activity (P=.0001), when penned than chained, but the two older groups engaged in social activity more when chained than penned (P<.0161). Finally, the youngest group engaged in more locomotion activity than both older groups when penned (P<.001 1), less resting and social activities than both older groups when chained (P<,0391) and less resting activity than the oldest group when penned (P<.0001). These findings suggest that penning is a better method of housing of circus elephants as more species-typical behaviors are exhibited when penned on grass or dirt than when chained on macadam. Age appears to be an influencing factor in the frequency of activities engaged in by the elephants and the youngest elephants seem to be more affected by chaining.