Captive elephants

Elephants in captivity are in most cases Asian elephants captured in the wild, usually as juveniles. Selective breeding of elephants is impractical due to their long reproductive cycle, so there are no domestic breeds. African bush elephants and African forest elephants are less amenable to training. There are estimated to be 15,000 to 20,000 elephants in captivity, of a total population of 40,000 to 50,000.

The majority of elephants in zoos and circuses are taken from their homes and families in the wild. They are sometimes confined in small enclosures, with hard surfaces, where they stand for hours. As a result of this, elephants suffer from joint problems and foot diseases such as cracked nails, ulcers, fissures, arthritis and fractured toes.

In January 2016, circus operators Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey announced they will be retiring their eleven captive elephants that year.

Tame elephants have been recorded since the Indus Valley civilization around 2,000 BCE. With mahouts, they have been used as working animals in forestry, as war elephants (by commanders such as Hannibal), for cultural and ceremonial use (such as temple elephants), as a method of execution, for public displays such as circus elephants, in elephant polo and in zoological gardens.

The expression white elephant derives from a white elephant being considered sacred and therefore disqualified from useful work, yet posing a large ownership cost. The origin of the expression is from the story that the kings of Siam gave white elephants as a gift to courtiers they disliked, in order to ruin the recipient by the great expense incurred in maintaining the animal.

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Wikipedia