The future of elephants in captivity

This concluding chapter attempts to predict the future of captive elephant populations and the challenges faced by those who seek to conserve wild populations. It begins by discussing the concept of elephant ranching as a means of breeding elephants on a large scale and outlandish suggestions that elephants should be ‘introduced’ into ecosystems in the United States and Australia. The creation of large elephant sanctuaries in the Americas and Europe is discussed in the light of welfare concerns for zoo and circus elephants. The possible value of captive elephants as a repository of useful genes for wild populations and as a resource for cloning experiments is considered along with their usefulness in therapies for humans. The chapter concludes by examining the future role of zoos, the possible threats of climate change, the role of protection zones in the wild and the changing attitude of the public to keeping elephants in zoos.