Does this trunk make me look fat?

[Bob Of Burleson]

Overweight zoo elephants no laughing matter

ScienceDaily.com

African elephants in captivity are getting fat. While the thought of a pudgy pachyderm might produce a chuckle, it is a situation with potentially serious consequences for the species.

"Obesity affects about 40 percent of African elephants in captivity," said Daniella Chusyd, M.A., a doctoral student in the University of Alabama at Birmingham Department of Nutrition Sciences. "Much as we see in humans, excess fat in elephants contributes to the development of heart disease, arthritis, a shorter lifespan and infertility."

Infertility is the aspect that may be most troubling to Chusyd and colleagues. Nearly half of zoo African female elephants exhibit abnormal ovarian cycles, which is strongly correlated with a high body mass index, said Chusyd. According to a 2011 report by scientists at the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago, zoos in the United States need to average about six births each year to maintain a stable elephant population. But the current average is only around three births a year.

"Low birth rate is connected to abnormal ovarian cycles in elephants and virtually all large mammals, including humans," said Tim Nagy, Ph.D., professor in the UAB Department of Nutrition Sciences and Chusyd's mentor. "At the current birth rate, the findings of the Lincoln Park Zoo report suggest that the African elephant could be gone from U.S. zoos within 50 years."

With elephants in the wild continually threatened by diminished habitat, ivory hunting, war and political instability, zoos may provide the last bastion for preserving the species, said Chusyd. To better understand the link between obesity and infertility in zoo elephants, she has launched a study looking at body composition and inflammation in these animals.

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[LibraryLady]

Early one morning, Mama the elephant embarks on a medical routine that many seniors would find familiar, if daunting.

First, she pops some pills — 144, in her case, for conditions such as joint stiffness and fluid retention. They come stashed inside two dozen peanut butter sandwiches piled inside two gray buckets. At a keeper’s prompting, Mama tosses her head back, curls up her trunk and opens her mouth so the keeper can toss in the sandwiches one by one.

Next, it’s time for some blood tests, a bath, a foot exam, a massage with the elephant version of Bengay, and a weight check. All week, a team of experts monitors Mama’s activity level, appetite, stool consistency, sleep habits and scores of other attributes listed in a medical chart that fills a bright red binder.

Such are the travails of a geriatric elephant. At 44, Mama has surpassed the 38-year average life expectancy for a female African elephant in captivity. She is the Dallas Zoo’s oldest pachyderm and presides over a herd of five aging elephants whom zoo officials have dubbed “The Golden Girls.”

“In the last three decades, animal care has improved by leaps and bounds to the point where animals are living longer,” says Martha Fischer, a noted elephant specialist and curator at the St. Louis Zoo.

As a result, keepers and veterinarians have gained valuable experience in how to care for older animals.

Harry Peachey, elephant manager at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, says zoo veterinarians are in constant contact about best practices.

They also consult journals, such as Zoo Biology, which have outlined normal bloodwork for elephants and regularly publish case reports on various conditions, says Jan Raines, associate veterinarian at the Dallas Zoo.

Raines consults journals and speaks with colleagues but also uses trial and error to figure out what works best for Mama. “Every elephant is different,” she says. “What works best for one may not always work for another.”

The Golden Girls’ advancing age has turned a corner of the Dallas Zoo’s Giants of the Savanna habitat into a sort of assisted living facility. The four other elephants — Jenny, Congo, Kamba and Gypsy — range in age from 32 to 37. But they don’t take medicine and don’t require the same level of specialized care as Mama.

Mama can’t bend her right rear leg, the result of an injury she sustained before she arrived at the Dallas Zoo in 2010. The injury prevents her from lying down. So zoo staff designed special “furniture” — partially buried or hanging logs, mounds of sand — that allows her to rest or even sleep standing up.

“She’ll rest her tusks in a sand pile or on a tree trunk or stump,” says Karen Gibson, the Dallas Zoo’s elephant curator.

One of Mama’s favorite pieces is an enormous tree trunk chained diagonally to the inside of a barn behind the Savanna habitat. The barn houses the elephants for an hour or two each morning while zoo staff clean the habitat and put out fresh food and “browse” — loose tree branches that elephants strip for leaves and bark.
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