Recent research work by Professor Bob Jacobs, Professor of Neuroscience of Colorado College, indicates that large mammals suffer brain damage due to the ill effects of captivity.
The White Rhinos
It was a sunny day more than twenty years ago at the Guwahati Zoo. After badgering my family to accompany me on a day’s trip to the city zoo in the capital of Assam, I was roaming the zoo diligently, documenting new species of animals observed, as was my want during every zoo visit. Roaming around, I came across a field with a low lying barrier and on close examination, found a remarkable creature that was grazing inside. The animal inside was a full-grown White Rhino, a creature I had never seen in any zoo before in my systematic zoo survey. I took great pains and considerable risk to click a photograph of the White Rhino in Guwahati Zoo, reproduced herewith.
White Rhino Mohan in Guwahati Zoo in Assam 1995 by Shubhobroto Ghosh
There was one White Rhino in Guwahati Zoo in 1995 and even all those years ago, I imagined that was the not the ideal state for the animal be in, because White Rhinos in the wild are gregarious creatures. As time progressed and my zoo studies expanded in India and abroad, with multiple visits to zoos, including Guwahati Zoo, I learnt more about the plight of the White Rhino at Guwahati Zoo, named Mohan.
The plight of the White Rhino--- Mohan
Brought from the USA in 1974, Mohan suffered the loss of his mate and remained in solitary confinement against his natural instincts till his eventual death in 2017. He inflicted bodily harm on himself by battering his horns on the sides of his enclosure, wearing them out to pathetic stumps and virtually non existent eventually. His mood swings became vicious and frequent and his interactions with his keepers reportedly became lethal on occasions. Mohan became a shadow of what a wild white rhino was meant to be and a caricature of what white rhinos are in the wild in Southern Africa. Watching a film on well known South African conservationist, Ian Player, recently, I could appreciate the beauty and grandeur of these animals living freely in the wild and how much effort has been undertaken to save them from extinction. As Ian Player stated, the plight of the white rhino is in many ways, the plight of wild animals across the world and in a microcosm, the plight of the environment in general, suffering at the hands of man. Compared to the sublime beauty of wild white rhinos, I am always reminded of the lonesome Mohan, grazing without a companion at Guwahati Zoo, mocked by visitors who threw stones at him and could not be less bothered about his sorry plight and even less concerned about the fate of his brethren in the wild. His unfortunate behaviour patterns compelled upon him by his unnatural incarceration, have now been apparently explained by Professor Bob Jacobs, a neuroscience researcher at the Colorado College, in United States of America, in a study that indicates that captivity causes brain damage in large mammals like Mohan. My misgivings on Mohan’s captivity, that were formed all those years ago, seem grounded in solid science today.
Research work by Professor Bob Jacobs, Professor of Neuroscience of Colorado College
Recent research work by Professor Bob Jacobs, Professor of Neuroscience of Colorado College, indicates that large mammals suffer brain damage due to the ill effects of captivity. This negative impact is particularly applicable to cetaceans and elephants. Choosing examples of these two species in captivity, Professor Jacobs cites Hanako, a female Asian elephant, who lived alone for ten years at the Inokashira Park Zoo in Japan and Kiska, a female Killer Whale or Orca, living in solitary isolation in Marineland Niagara, in Canada, since 2011.
I had occasion to observe Kiska in Marineland Niagara personally during a visit in July 2017. Having read a lot on Killer Whales and watched films like ‘Free Willy’ and ‘Blackfish,’ I was extremely keen to see this species for the first time in the flesh, although only in captivity. When I finally came across Kiska, I could only see a broken Killer Whale, who had been driven to a lonely and completely inadequate existence in a barren tank in captivity, swimming repeatedly in circles. Many problems associated with keeping cetaceans in captivity, including those outlined in studies commissioned by World Animal Protection over the years, became immediately apparent to me the day I saw the solitary Kiska, a pale shadow of the wild Orca species, that hunt in packs and swim out in the open ocean. Research carried out by notable scientists like Ingrid Visser and Lori Marino have shown that captivity leads to severe behavioral and physical aberrations in captive cetaceans. The recent study of Professor Jacobs bears testimony to the previous studies that have indicated similar results.
Kiska in Marineland Niagara July 2017 by Shubhobroto Ghosh
The suffering of captive elephants
For animals like elephants, that may walk for as many as 20 km every day, any kind of captivity is severely restrictive. Studies conducted on both studies of the Atlantic, by Oxford University researchers Ros Clubb and Georgia Mason in 2002 and by Michael Berens of Seattle Times in 2012, show that captive elephants suffer severely in confined spaces and their physical and behavioral needs are severely compromised in zoos. Closer home, several studies on elephants in India carried out by different groups, including Compassion Unlimited Plus Action(CUPA) and World Animal Protection have come to similar conclusions. A study on elephants published in 2019 indicated that captive elephants displayed high levels of stress whilst participating in processions. The study stated that, “The management recommendation includes minimizing participation in religious activities, processions, forest department activities, etc.”
Elephants in Amer fort stable in Jaipur by Shubhobroto Ghosh
Extensive video footage of captive elephants
Extensive video footage has also been obtained by many organisations, including World Animal Protection, that show captive elephants displaying severe signs of stereotypy including swaying, head bobbing and repetitive pacing. Captive elephants that are used to ferry tourists suffer particularly badly, in states that are not part of their home range and given their inadequate husbandry and environmental conditions. The elephants at Amer fort in Jaipur, used to ferry tourists are very likely to suffer from the kind of brain damage indicated by the study conducted by Professor Bob Jacobs.
Why do some people defend keeping animals in captivity?
World Animal Protection welcomes the study of Bob Jacobs on the neurological impact of captivity on large mammals and calls for a close examination of the conclusion presented in the study, “Some people defend keeping animals in captivity, arguing that it helps conserve endangered species or offers educational benefits for visitors to zoos and aquariums. These justifications are questionable, particularly for large mammals. As my own research and work by many other scientists shows, caging large mammals and putting them on display is undeniably cruel from a neural perspective. It causes brain damage. Public perceptions of captivity are slowly changing, as shown by the reaction to the documentary “Blackfish.” For animals that cannot be free, there are well-designed sanctuaries.” Ultimately negotiated transitions from abusive venues to well designed sanctuaries may turn out to be the saving grace for large mammals like Killer Whales and elephants in captivity, including those giving rides at Amer fort in Jaipur in Rajasthan.
References
A Review Of The Welfare of Zoo Elephants in Europe by Ros Clubb and Georgia Mason, University of Oxford, Animal Behavior Research Group, Department of Zoology. Commissioned by RSPCA, 2002.
Link :
https://science.rspca.org.uk/documents/1494935/9042554/A+review+of+the+…
Glamour Beasts : The dark side of elephant captivity by Michael Berens, 1 December, 2012, Seattle Times. Link :
Non-Invasive Assessment of Physiological Stress in Captive Asian Elephants
Vinod Kumar, Muthulingam Pradheeps, Adiseshu Kokkiligadda, Rajashekhar Niyogi, Govindhaswamy Umapathy
Animals (Basel) 2019 Aug; 9(8): 553. Published online 2019 Aug 14. doi: 10.3390/ani9080553
The neural cruelty of captivity: Keeping large mammals in zoos and aquariums damages their brains by Professor Bob Jacobs, Professor of Neuroscience, Colorado College
Link : https://theconversation.com/the-neural-cruelty-of-captivity-keeping-lar…
Professor Jacobs states, “It is easy to observe the overall health and psychological consequences of life in captivity for these animals. Many captive elephants suffer from arthritis, obesity or skin problems. Both elephants and orcas often have severe dental problems. Captive orcas are plagued by pneumonia, kidney disease, gastrointestinal illnesses and infections.