Most of us fondly remember visits to the zoo as children.

I was especially in awe of the elephants, having learned about their long lifespans, 18-to-22-month gestation periods and remarkable memories. And, of course, their immense size means elephants hold the title for largest land mammals.

Luckily, most U.S. zoos no longer allow visitors to ride the animals — something I remember doing as a kid. Instead, the institutions focus on animal well-being and humane treatment.

Recently UC Davis played a key role in several studies looking into zoo elephant welfare. Cheryl Meehan, a UC Davis staff research associate in the Department of Population, Health and Reproduction at the School of Veterinary Medicine, led the overview for the effort to analyze 255 African and Asian elephants in 68 North American zoos.

The UC Davis research in elephant well-being demonstrates our commitment to the One Health approach that looks to collaborative problem solving.

Joy Mench, a professor in the UC Davis Department of Animal Science, said that the research team members hope their work will provide zoos with “objective information about how elephants are faring behaviorally, physiologically and emotionally, and the positive and negative outcomes of various zoo housing and management practices.”

The researchers suggest four key ways zoos can improve their elephants' health:

1. Provide ample time for elephants to be in larger social groups, particularly those that include young animals

Elephant managers should consider changes at zoos to support larger, multigenerational social groupings and allow elephants to socialize and form long-term bonds. Contrary to researcher expectations, these types of enrichment opportunities are more important to elephant well-being than how big enclosures are.

2. Offer elephants opportunities for mental stimulation when feeding

For example, females who are more engaged with mentally stimulating activities such as using puzzle feeders that require work to gain access to food were more likely to reproduce normally. Researchers report that these types of changes could potentially solve reproduction problems common among female African elephants in zoos. 

3. Limit inter-zoo transfers

Transferring elephants between zoos can contribute to negative stereotypic behaviors such as swaying or rocking, not part of an elephant's natural range of behaviors in the wild.

4. Investigate alternatives to hard flooring for these elephants

One of the studies found that spending time on hard flooring was the No. 1 risk factor for both foot and musculoskeletal health problems, which are common in zoo elephants.

Jocelyn Anderson is the UC Davis Magazine editor.