Physical activity and temperature changes of Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) participating in eco-tourism activities and elephant polo

Abstract

Captive and domestic animals are often required to engage in physical activity initiated or organised by humans, which may impact their body temperature, with consequences for their health and welfare. This is a particular concern for animals such as elephants that face thermoregulatory challenges because of their body size and physiology. Using infrared thermography, we measured changes in skin temperature associated with two types of physical activity in ten female Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) at an eco-tourism lodge in Nepal. Six elephants took part in an activity relatively unfamiliar to the elephants–a polo tournament—and four participated in more familiar ecotourism activities. We recorded skin temperatures for four body regions affected by the activities, as well as an average skin temperature. Temperature change was used as the response variable in the analysis and calculated as the difference in elephant temperature before and after activity. We found no significant differences in temperature change between the elephants in the polo-playing group and those from the non-polo playing group. However, for both groups, when comparing the average skin body temperature and several different body regions, we found significant differences in skin temperature change before and after activity. The ear pinna was the most impacted region and was significantly different to all other body regions. This result highlights the importance of this region in thermoregulation for elephants during physical activity. However, as we found no differences between the average body temperatures of the polo and non-polo playing groups, we suggest that thermoregulatory mechanisms can counteract the effects of both physical activities the elephants engaged in.