Crawley Jennie A H, Nandar Hnin, Zaw Htet T, Lahdenperä Mirkka, Franco Dos Santos Diogo J, Seltmann Martin W, Brown Janine L, Goodsell Robert M, Oo Zaw M, Htut Win, Nyein U K, Aung Htoo H, Lummaa Virpi
Department of Biology, University of Turku, Turku 20014, Finland.
Myanma Timber Enterprise, Yangon 11011, Myanmar.
R Soc Open Sci. 2024 Apr 10;11(4):231172. doi: 10.1098/rsos.231172. eCollection 2024 Apr.
A quarter of Asian elephants are captive, with greater than 90% of these tamed and cared for by handlers (mahouts) in Asia. Although taming is a much-discussed welfare issue, no studies to our knowledge have empirically assessed its impact on calves, and dialogue surrounding taming often lacks perspectives of those involved. Here, we interviewed mahouts involved in taming and monitored five physiological measures (faecal glucocorticoid metabolites (FGMs), serum cortisol, glucose, creatine kinase (CK) and heterophil:lymphocyte (H:L)) over the first 10 days of taming and following six months in 41 calves undergoing taming and 16 control individuals. These measures assess the duration and intensity of stress during taming. Interviews suggested mahouts had major concerns for their safety when discussing changing taming practices, an important consideration for future management. Calf physiological measures were elevated by 50-70% (FGMs/cortisol/glucose), 135% (H:L) and greater than 500% (CK) over the first few days of taming, indicative of elevated stress, not seen to the same extent in control adults. Some measures stabilized sooner (glucose/cortisol/CK/FGM: 7-10 days) than others (H:L: one-two months), indicating mostly acute stress. Our findings inform the welfare of approximately 15 000 captive elephants around the world. Future studies should compare taming in different populations and consider calf and mahout welfare.
四分之一的亚洲象被圈养，其中超过90%由亚洲的驯象人（象夫）驯化并照料。尽管驯化是一个备受讨论的福利问题，但据我们所知，尚无研究实证评估其对小象的影响，且围绕驯化的讨论往往缺乏相关人员的视角。在此，我们采访了参与驯化的象夫，并对41头接受驯化的小象和16头对照个体在驯化的头10天及随后6个月内的五项生理指标（粪便糖皮质激素代谢物（FGMs）、血清皮质醇、葡萄糖、肌酸激酶（CK）和嗜异性粒细胞：淋巴细胞（H:L）比值）进行了监测。这些指标用于评估驯化过程中应激的持续时间和强度。访谈表明，象夫在讨论改变驯化方式时主要担心自身安全，这是未来管理的一个重要考量因素。在驯化的头几天，小象的生理指标升高了50 - 70%（FGMs/皮质醇/葡萄糖）、135%（H:L比值）和超过500%（CK），表明应激水平升高，而对照成年象未出现同样程度的情况。一些指标比其他指标更快趋于稳定（葡萄糖/皮质醇/CK/FGMs：7 - 10天）（H:L比值：1 - 2个月），表明主要是急性应激。我们的研究结果为全球约15000头圈养大象的福利提供了参考。未来的研究应比较不同种群的驯化情况，并考虑小象和象夫的福利。
