Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) have worked with people for a long time in several Asian countries. Additionally, there are many elephants in zoos and sanctuaries all over the world. In captivity, accidents sometimes occur involving elephants and zoo keepers (mahouts). Although human-elephant relationships are very important to the management of elephants in captivity, there have not been many studies done on these to date. The objective of this study was to clarify how mahout-elephant proximity relations influence elephant behavior. Our subjects were 17 captive Asian elephants at the Elephant Study Centre in Surin Province, Thailand. We recorded all social behaviors performed by each focal animal and the distances between her and her mahout every minute. We compared the frequency with which the elephants and mahouts stayed in close proximity to one another and the frequencies of different social behaviors involving the elephants. We found that elephants that maintained close proximity to their mahouts for longer periods underwent fewer interactions with other elephants. This study may represent the first report to demonstrate the influence of mahouts on the social behavior of captive elephants.

Mixed-species exhibition under which multiple species are housed in a same enclosure provides various advantages in zoos. However, mixed-species exhibition may impaired animal welfare in some situations such as delivery and nursing. This study evaluated social relationship of typical combination of mixed-species exhibition in Japanese zoos, reticulated giraffes Giraffa camelopardalis reticulata and gravy zebras Equus grevyi, and investigated the influence of birth of a newborn zebra on the social relationship within and between species. The subjects were three giraffes and one (before birth) and two zebras (after birth) housed in Kyoto City Zoo, Japan. We recorded their social behavior, nearest individuals, and distance between each pair of individuals and compared these parameters between before and after birth. In these two observation periods, affiliative behavior between species was observed, indicating that they had favorable relationship. But a specific pair of individuals increased agonistic behavior, suggesting that delivery of a newborn zebra changed the social relationship between giraffes and zebras negatively. These results suggest that mixed-species exhibition provides social stimulation to subject animals; however, aggressive incidents should be monitored carefully at delivery and during nursing.

Captive breeding is extremely important for the successful conservation of cheetahs.; However, it is, difficult to predict the estrus period in captive cheetahs, the estrus cycle may be influenced by captive conditions, or social relations among captive individuals. Elucidation of cheetah’s breeding physiology is important for the successful breeding of this species in captivity. The aim of this study was to determine the usefulness of identifying male behavior and calls that signify female estrus. The behavioral activities, call characteristics, and fecal estradiol-17β-content of nine captive cheetahs were observed.

Our results indicated that there was a significant correlation with only females who were not involved in reproduction during the observation period, and that it was difficult to detect female estrus using male behavior. On the contrary, “chirr,” the male courtship call, was observed in individuals who recognized the capability to mate. As estrus intensified, this vocalization became remarkably more frequent than the “meow,” the call used to communicate with other individuals. These results suggest that the increase in chirr is useful for detecting female estrus and determining whether males recognize female mating capability. However, females, even in estrus, were not always tolerant of the males wanting to mate.