Research Proposal

Kyra Brewer
Independent Research I
2016-2017

Title Elephants in Zoos: Habitat and Health

Research Question and Hypothesis

What aspects of an elephants habitat negatively affect elephant mental and physical
health the most?
As a result of inadequate enclosures, unspecific regulations, and interactions with humans
and other elephants, the mental and physical health of elephants in zoos are extremely
damaged.

Overview of Research
This research will address the improper regulations and harmful mistreatment that occur in zoos
and why new laws and acts needs to be passed to prevent many medical problems in zoo
elephants. Many people do not know the severity of the mistreatment elephants face and how
deprived they are of many necessary components of their wild habitat. To spread the cause and
major issues of this topic, a website will be created that will include: certain components of zoos,
their harmful repercussions, and how they affect elephants. The website link will be sent to
professionals, activists, and local officials in order to spread the message and increase awareness.

Background and History of the Issue

Mistreatment in zoos occurs to all species of animals, but the difficulty of recreating an
elephants natural habitat has caused many problems. Elephants, Asian and African, have vast
and varied habitats including water holes, trees, and hills. Without experiencing the mental and
physical stimulation of those aspects of their habitat, elephants can form medical problems in
their feet, joints, and minds. In the wild, elephants also have tight-knit communities, but in a zoo,
these bonds are broken and relationships with unfamiliar elephants are forced. Forced breeding
arises from these relationships and infant mortality rates have been steady. Interactions with
people, the public and handlers, are detrimental to the elephants due to immoral punishments
methods and daily elephant-to-human interaction with the public.

These issues have become serious because proper regulation has not been passed and applied.
New legislation needs to be created the addresses specific problems within zoos since existing
laws and act only apply to certain animals and dont make zoo habitats similar enough to the
wild.

Problems Statement and Rationale

For years, the presence of elephants in zoos have been defended when supporters of zoos claim
elephants promote science and education. This claim is somewhat true since people can see
elephants in person, but the space elephants are given and the way they are treated is hidden from
the public. Legislation must be passed in order to raise awareness about elephant mistreatment
and create standards habitats must meet. Elephants are an endangered species and their numbers
have been quickly decreasing. An elephant's lifespan in captivity are half of the lifespan of wild
elephants, With more and more elephants being taken from their home and put into zoos for
science and education, the population will suffer, and elephants will become severely and
critically endangered.

Basis of Hypothesis
The hypothesis is based on how modern zoo enclosures today are lacking the basic, necessary
components that are present in an elephants natural, wild habitats. Elephant health is focused on
because it affect all elephants and there are many different aspects of an it that can be affected.
Since there have been more concern and worry for elephants in captivity and animals in captivity
overall, this topic have become more controversial and time sensitive. Due to the nature of an
elephants wild habitat, living in a zoo has caused numerous health issues, yet proper legislation
is lacking. With more specific law and acts, the population of elephants and awareness of their
suffering will increase.

Operational Definitions
Captivity; A place where an animals is in confinement and separated from its natural habitat

Legislation; Regulations banning certain detrimental behaviors of zoo keepers and the public and
standards for what an elephants habitat should look like.

Research Design
This topic requires causal-comparative research since many factors contribute to the
deteriorating health of elephants in many ways. Through looking at different habitats and finding
the most common problems, the ideal elephant zoo enclosure will develop. Causal-comparative
research addresses patterns, and will address how certain components in encolures cause certain
medical problems in elephants. Interviews of professionals will be conducted and their answers
will be used to support or refute my hypothesis and provide a deeper understanding of the topic.
Documents will analyzed as well in order to investigate data and understand the factual
connection between elephants and zoos. The data collected will be presented in a paper
describing the most detrimental components and the most dangerous and common conditions
that correspond.

Product Overview
The outcome of this research will be a well organized, and detailed website. Since there are
many zoo components that will be included and mental and physical health conditions to
correspond, a website is necessary. The information included will be the components, conditions,
examples, cases, and previous, controversial cases. The audience this website will be projected
towards will be concerned, and interested activists of all ages. The main purpose of the website is
to inform those who are not aware of the minstreatmanets occurring in zoos and captivity. Those
who feel an obligation to help our environment and its animals will benefit from the site. In order
to get the website viewed and acknowledged, many professionals and activists will be contacted
and asked to read and spread the website. If the website is seen by an uninformed and unaware
audience, the goal of the website, to spread awareness, will be accomplished. Local leaders and
officials will also be contacted in order to get the message of the website to a more impactful
audience.

Logistical Considerations
The obstacles that could hinder the spread of the website could be not being able to find people
who truly want to solve the issue of improper regulation of zoos. To resolve this, an abundant
amount of activists, local leaders, and zoologists will be contacted to create a better chance of a
response. Another issue that could arise is having a person interested in the website and the
cause, but not willing to spread the website and inform others. The solution to this issue is, again,
making sure people with a variety of different jobs and interests are contacted to increase the
chances of someone willing to spread the website.