Visitor perceptions of temple elephant welfare

The latest survey by the IUCN (2023) reported a population of 48,000 - 51,680 endangered Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) in the wild. Additionally, 16,000 individuals live under captivity worldwide with around 3,400 – 3,600 captive elephants kept in India alone (Sukumar, 2003; Vanitha et al., 2011). The worldwide captive population is equivalent to 30% of the wild population which emphasizes the significance of management and welfare of elephants in captivity (Sukumar, 2003). The three main captive systems that dominate in India are temples, privately owned shelters, and forest departments (Vanitha et al., 2010). Historically, privately owned elephants were a symbol of power for royal families although now some exist as a cult symbol and are made to participate in competitions where elephants exert their physical abilities beyond their “competitors” to win money (Dinkar, 2021; Vijayakrishnan & Sinha, 2019). Other purposes of keeping captive elephants in privately owned shelters include seeking charity through begging if they are not already lent on contract to participate in ceremonial events (Baskaran et al., 2011). While forest department elephants include zoo and forest camp elephants, those in forest camps assist in patrolling forests, collecting timber and provide revenue in the form of tourism through safaris (Banerjee, 2012; Baskaran et al., 2011). Zoo elephants however may face more sedentary lifestyles than elephants housed in forest camps but may be transferred to forest camps periodically to enable them to experience less restrictive environments (Vanitha et al., 2011).