New rigorous welfare standards developed by Professor Christine Nicol, Professor of Animal Welfare at the Royal Veterinary College, in collaboration with the animal protection charity, We Are All Mammals (WAAM), have been introduced in facilities across Southern Africa.
The Standards for the Management and Welfare of Elephants in Human Care are the first to provide guidance on how to manage elephants under human care and will help ensure that elephants receive the highest possible standards of care.
The new guidelines go beyond simply keeping elephants in good physical health by recognising their autonomy and intelligence. In addition, these benchmarks will help facilities demonstrate to visitors and donors that the elephants they are supporting are managed to the highest possible standards.
Facilities keeping these complex mammals must ensure that the elephants are able to exercise choice over their living conditions. It is also essential that they are provided with an enriched environment and social companionship, and are able take part in co-operative activities with their human carers which has benefits for safe handling and interactions, and for the intellectual development of the elephants.
The guidelines are intended to act as a gold standard for elephant care, helping to showcase those who are meeting the criteria and empowering other facilities to make changes to be meeting best practice.
In a notable achievement, EleCrew, a Zimbabwean Trust that keeps African elephants under human care, has just become the first facility to pass a rigorous inspection process during which they demonstrated how they met these new welfare standards.
Christine Nicol, Professor of Animal Welfare at the Royal Veterinary College and co-author and editor of the Standards for the Management and Welfare of Elephants in Human Care, said:
"There is nothing more satisfying than seeing animal welfare science translate into real change on the ground. Elephants are magnificent animals and, as human pressures continue to increase and encroach on their lives, we must ensure that we acknowledge our responsibility to ensure they can lead lives of the highest quality."
Jake Rendle-Worthington, Director of We Are All Mammals (WAAM) said:
"Working with the RVC has been of huge benefit as we have had access to expertise keeping up to date and cutting edge animal welfare concepts at the core of the standards that we have developed."
Reference
The Standards for the Management and Welfare of Elephants in Human Care, were published in 2021, ISBN: 978-1-80068’007 -4 and are available from WAAM.
WAAM recognises the mutual dependencies and similarities between humans and other mammalian species. In a world with ever increasing human pressures on wild habitats humans and other species need to co-exist happily. WAAM was established in 2019 and works through knowledge, education and research to ensure the conservation of mammals living in close proximity to humans.
