India has approximately 10% of its elephants in captivity spread across various management regimes, each of which vary significantly in their elephant-keeping practices. Despite a historical association and a close-working relationship with humans, captive Asian elephants have not been selectively bred for the purpose of domestication and therefore still retain their wild behavioral phenotypes and requirements. From studies on wild and captive animals we know that elephants are sentient, cognitive, and social beings. They respond to distress of other elephants, grieve at the loss of group members, excel in many cognitive tasks comparable to humans and great apes, have unique personalities and have strong social bonds based on individual preferences. This means that they have very specific and complex requirements which are challenging to fulfill in captive environments and often results in their physical and psychological welfare being compromised. While we may not be able to replicate the exact physical and social environments of wild elephants, we can focus on providing a ‘state’ of being, which is meaningful to individually rescued elephants. Previous elephant well-being studies across the country have predominantly focused on population-level parameters of welfare. However, for a cognitively and socially complex species such as the elephant, focusing on individual animal requirements is crucial if we are to adequately address their welfare and look at sustainable long-term interventions. 

The Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre (WRRC) has undertaken a research program to address these challenges. The elephants provide us with the opportunity of being able to create a welfare model focused on individual requirements.The program’s primary aim is to create higher-quality management strategies for captive elephants by focusing on individual care and intervention. This initiative is a pioneering effort to move beyond population-level welfare studies to a more individualized approach, recognizing the complex cognitive and social needs of these animals.

The project is structured in three distinct phases:

Phase I: Synthesis of Baseline Information

This phase focused on creating a detailed welfare requirement profile for each elephant at WRRC. The research considered each animal’s unique history, age, and personality, recognizing that their different lived experiences in various management regimes had to be accounted for when determining their individual needs.

Phase II: Providing Physical and Psychological Welfare Interventions

Based on the profiles from Phase I, the program provided tailored interventions to combat the negative effects of the elephants’ past. This  included social, physiological, or cognitive support. For example, if an elephant displayed repetitive stereotypic behavior due to stress or boredom, the research team implemented cognitive enrichments to address and reduce these behaviors.

Phase III: Monitoring Interventions

The final phase involves monitoring the effects of the interventions by conducting “before and after” comparisons. This step is critical for understanding the impact of the interventions on each elephant’s welfare. The long-term goal is to use the findings from this project as a working model that can be adapted and applied to different captive elephant management systems across India, setting a new standard for ethical and effective elephant care.

This phase focused on creating a detailed welfare requirement profile for each elephant at WRRC. The research considered each animal’s unique history, age, and personality, recognizing that their different lived experiences in various management regimes had to be accounted for when determining their individual needs.

Based on the profiles from Phase I, the program provided tailored interventions to combat the negative effects of the elephants’ past. This included social, physiological, or cognitive support. For example, if an elephant displayed repetitive stereotypic behavior due to stress or boredom, the research team implemented cognitive enrichments to address and reduce these behaviors.

The final phase involves monitoring the effects of the interventions by conducting “before and after” comparisons. This step is critical for understanding the impact of the interventions on each elephant’s welfare. The long-term goal is to use the findings from this project as a working model that can be adapted and applied to different captive elephant management systems across India, setting a new standard for ethical and effective elephant care.

Gods in Chains, by Rhea Ghosh, is a non-fiction book that documents and exposes the harsh reality of India’s captive elephants.
We took this work forward also by collaborating with author Rhea Ghosh, to publish a seminal book highlighting the conditions of captive elephants, as they are currently used and kept in India. Initially started as an informal documentation, Gods in Chains later expanded to become a handbook of sorts , for anyone wanting to know more of the reality behind the veil of glamour and majesty of the captive pachyderm, especially in temple rituals and festival processions. The often troubled and complex relationship with their only companion, the mahout , is also a story of pathos and heartbreak for a deeply social and community-minded animal. WRRC was awarded the Proggy Award by People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) for this book and it was also the Social Cause Book of the Year, 2005.)

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