Elephant handling

Elephants in captivity refers most often to elephants either born in captivity, such as a zoo, circus, or camp, or have been imported from the wild. Most captive elephants are Asian elephants. 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. Historically, elephants in zoos and circuses were taken from the wild; today, many are born in captivity.

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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