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This study investigated how camp management and tourist activities affect body condition, adrenocortical function, lipid profiles and metabolic status in female tourist elephants. We compared twice monthly serum insulin, glucose, fructosamine, total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), low density lipoprotein (LDL), high density lipoprotein (HDL), and fecal glucocorticoid metabolite (FGM) concentrations to body condition scores (BCS) at five camps with different management styles (e.g., tourist activities, work type, diet) between the High (November-February) and Low (March-October) tourist seasons. There were significant camp effects on health parameters, with BCS, TC, HDL, insulin and glucose being among the highest, and G:I being the lowest (less heathy) in elephants at an observation camp compared to those at camps where elephants received exercise by providing rides to tourists. Differences between High and Low tourist season months also were found for all measures, except TG and FGM concentrations. Both work time and walking distance were negatively correlated to glucose, fructosamine and insulin, while walking distance was negatively related to FGM concentrations. By contrast, positive associations were found between tourist number and BCS, TG, and insulin, perhaps related to tourists feeding elephants. Quantity of supplementary diet items (e.g., bananas, sugar cane, pumpkin) were positively correlated with FGM concentrations, glucose, fructosamine, and insulin. This study provides evidence that body condition, adrenal activity, metabolic markers, and lipid profiles in captive elephants may be affected by visitor numbers, work activities, and the amount of supplementary foods offered by tourists. Some activities appear to have negative (e.g., feeding), while others (e.g., exercise) may have positive effects on health and welfare. We conclude that camps adopting a more hands-off approach to tourism need to ensure elephants remain healthy by providing environments that encourage activity and rely on more natural diets or foraging., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Studies in western zoo elephants have found relationships between body condition and physiological function, and identified mitigating management strategies to optimize health and welfare. A similar methodological approach was used in this study, which evaluated a body condition score (BCS; 1 = thinnest, 5 = fattest) every other month and fecal glucocorticoid metabolite (FGM) concentrations twice monthly in 33 tourist camp elephants in Thailand for a 1-year period to assess seasonal variations, and determine how lipid profiles [total cholesterol (TC), low density lipoproteins (LDL), high density lipoproteins (HDL), triglycerides (TG)] and metabolic parameters [insulin, glucose, fructosamine, glucose to insulin ratio (G:I)] related to measures of body condition and adrenal function. The most prevalent BCS was 3-3.5 (60.6%), with 27.3% at BCS = 4 (overweight) and 12.1% at BCS = 4.5-5 (very overweight); no elephants had a BCS <2. BCSs were higher in rainy and winter seasons compared to summer, with FGM, TG, HDL, LDL, and insulin also higher in the rainy and/or winter seasons (p<0.05). By contrast, TC and glucose were lowest in the rainy season. FGM measures were negatively associated with two environmental factors: temperature and rainfall, but not humidity. Positive correlations were found between BCS and TC, LDL, and HDL, and between FGM and TC, HDL, glucose, and insulin (p<0.05), whereas BCS and FGM were both negatively associated with the G:I (p<0.05). However, there was no relationship between BCS and FGM among the camp elephants. Using BCS and FGM measures as outcome variables in separate regression models, this study found high BCS and elevated FGM concentrations were associated with altered lipid profiles and metabolic status in elephants. Furthermore, more work hours/day was associated with better body condition and health measures. Thus, being overweight and exposed to factors that increase adrenal activity could adversely affect health status, requiring alterations in management for some individuals, whereas exercise appears to have a protective effect., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Pasteurella multocida causes haemorrhagic septicemia in livestock and wild animals, including elephants. The disease has been reported in Asian elephants in India and Sri Lanka, but to date there have been no reported cases in Thailand. ELISA or indirect hemagglutination assays (IHA) have been demonstrated to be able to detect the antibody against the disease in cattle, but no data are available for elephants. The present study reports a novel in-house indirect ELISA for antibody detection of haemorrhagic septicemia in Asian elephants, and evaluates the sensitivity and specificity of the method using a Bayesian approach. The characteristics of ELISA and IHA were analyzed using a one population Bayesian model assuming conditional dependence between these two diagnostic tests. The IHA was performed as recommended by the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) manual for haemorrhagic septicemia. An in-house indirect ELISA was developed with a heat extract antigen of P. multocida strain M-1404 (serovar B:2) as a coating antigen and rabbit anti-immunoglobulin G conjugated with horseradish peroxidase (eIgG-HRP). The checkerboard titration method was done using elephant sera immunized with P. multocida bacterin and negative sera from colostrum-deprived elephant calves. The concentrations of heat extract antigen (160μg/ml), sample serum (1:100), and eIgG-HRP (1:1000) were optimal for the assay. The calculated cut-off value was 0.103. Of the elephant sera, 50.59% (43/85) were considered seropositive by ELISA. The sensitivity of the ELISA test was higher than that of the IHA test [median=86.5%, 95% posterior probability interval (PPI)=52.5-98.9%] while the specificity was lower (median=54.1%, PPI=43.6-64.7%). The median sensitivity and specificity of IHA were 80.5% (PPI=43.8-98.0%) and 78.4% (PPI=69.0-87.0%), respectively. These findings suggest that our in-house indirect ELISA can be used as a tool to detect the antibody against haemorrhagic septicemia in Asian elephants., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)