Even elephants are getting on the quantify - self movement . The health of some zoo elephant is now being monitored through fittingness tracker , according toNPR . It ’s called the Elephant Welfare Initiative , a national endeavor to study how elephants in captivity are faring and what steps can be taken to improve their health and happiness .
As part of the program , caretakers keep detailed log about their elephant ’ activity and behaviors . ( The animal are n’t wear any machine a la Fitbit . ) Fitness trailing software package , developed by an organization calledAWARE(Animal Welfare Assessment , Research and Education ) , then provides suggestions about how to change up the animals ’ routines to do good their well being .
AWARE plant several important factors for elephant wellness while tracking hundreds of elephants forseveral studiespublished in July 2016 . For instance , having more space does n’t necessarily make elephants healthier , but elephants that have lots of societal time exhibit few nervous tics , and reproductive health in female elephant can improve by giving them puzzle challenge . The studies launch that soft ground or sand was good for the elephant ' joints . Not to mention , the tracking of the animals ’ movements can tighten their obesity rates . Two elephants at the Fresno Chaffee Zoo have each lose about 2000 punt while taking part in the computer programme , which is presently being implemented in 40 - some zoos around the country .
Elephants arehighly well-informed , societal fauna , and some critics fence that zoos will never be capable to provide the kind of surround they require to really thrive . zoo do n’t have the blank space to defend the big , complex social meshing elephant have in the state of nature , and elephant families are often break up as young elephant bear in captivity are sent to other institutions . Many zoos have closed their elephant programs , though there are still78 zoosin North America that keep the pachyderms . However , some zoological garden that have pledged to end their elephant plan are persist in to keep their current elephants until they pass off , and others are design to keep host elephants for the foreseeable futurity , so a little bit of tracking can help those establishment keep their elephants as well-chosen as potential while in captivity .
[ h / tNPR ]
