Milk metabolite composition of a semi-captive population of Asian elephants.

Lack of maternal milk commonly leads to Asian elephant calves' death in captivity. Currently, available supplements seem inefficient. Hence, we aimed at characterizing the composition of Asian elephant milk to provide information on calves' nutritional needs.

Asian elephant calf physiology and mahout perspectives during taming in Myanmar.

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.

Seasonal variation in molecular and physiological stress markers in Asian elephants.

Free-living species exhibit seasonal variation in various life history traits, including vital rates such as birth and death patterns. Different physiological mechanisms are thought to underlie the expression of life history traits that contribute to lifetime fitness. However, although the broad impacts of seasonality on life history traits and trade-offs is well established in many systems, the exact physiological mechanisms responsible for driving differences within and between individuals are poorly understood.

Seasonal variation of health in Asian elephants.

Long-lived species are often predicted to be buffered against seasonal variation: longevity means low annual mortality and reproductive rates and annual variability in climate may therefore have a smaller impact on population growth rates of long-lived species in comparison to short-lived ones. However, little is known of the physiological mechanisms underlying such patterns in long-lived species. In this study, we investigated seasonal variation in the health of Asian elephants living in a seasonal monsoon climate.

Demographic and reproductive associations with nematode infection in a long-lived mammal.

Infection by macroparasites, such as nematodes, varies within vertebrate host systems; elevated infection is commonly observed in juveniles and males, and, for females, with different reproductive states. However, while such patterns are widely recognized in short-lived model systems, how they apply to long-lived hosts is comparatively understudied. Here, we investigated how infection varies with host age, sex, and female reproduction in a semi-captive population of individually marked Asian elephants Elephas maximus.

SEX DIFFERENCES IN THE REFERENCE INTERVALS OF HEALTH PARAMETERS IN SEMICAPTIVE ASIAN ELEPHANTS () FROM MYANMAR.

The reference intervals of health parameters are valuable tools for veterinarians and conservationists to monitor the health status and viability of endangered species. Natural variation in the health of the long-lived Asian elephant () is poorly understood, particularly in relation to differences between males and females. Longitudinal health data were collected from clinical examination, hematology, and serum chemistry analyses over 3 yr from 227 healthy individually marked Asian elephants varying in age and sex.

A standardised faecal collection protocol for intestinal helminth egg counts in Asian elephants, Elephas maximus.

The quantitative assessment of parasite infection is necessary to measure, manage and reduce infection risk in both wild and captive animal populations. Traditional faecal flotation methods which aim to quantify parasite burden, such as the McMaster egg counting technique, are widely used in veterinary medicine, agricultural management and wildlife parasitology. Although many modifications to the McMaster method exist, few account for systematic variation in parasite egg output which may lead to inaccurate estimations of infection intensity through faecal egg counts (FEC).