Physiological changes in captive elephants in Northern Thailand as a result of the COVID-19 tourism ban - muscle, liver, metabolic function, and body condition

Jarawee Supanta; Janine L Brown; Pakkanut Bansiddhi; Chatchote Thitaram; Veerasak Punyapornwithaya; Khanittha Punturee; Nopphamas Somboon; Patcharapa Towiboon; Jaruwan Khonmee

doi:10.3389/fvets.2023.1303537

Physiological changes in captive elephants in Northern Thailand as a result of the COVID-19 tourism ban - muscle, liver, metabolic function, and body condition

Front Vet Sci. 2023 Dec 21:10:1303537. doi: 10.3389/fvets.2023.1303537. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Jarawee Supanta^{1

2}, Janine L Brown^{2

3

4}, Pakkanut Bansiddhi^{1

2

3}, Chatchote Thitaram^{1

2

3}, Veerasak Punyapornwithaya¹, Khanittha Punturee⁵, Nopphamas Somboon⁶, Patcharapa Towiboon², Jaruwan Khonmee^{1

2

3}

Affiliations

¹ Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, Thailand.
² Center of Elephant and Wildlife Health, Chiang Mai University Animal Hospital, Chiang Mai, Thailand.
³ Elephant, Wildlife, and Companion Animals Research Group, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, Thailand.
⁴ Center for Species Survival, Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, Front Royal, VA, United States.
⁵ Department of Medical Technology, Faculty of Associated Medical Sciences, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, Thailand.
⁶ Small Animal Hospital, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, Thailand.

Abstract

The international travel ban initiated in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic greatly affected how captive elephants were managed in Thailand. A lack of tourists and associated income meant elephants were chained longer with reduced food provisions, had fewer mahouts, and limited exercise like riding, which likely affected health and welfare. Fifty-eight elephants from six tourist camps were assigned a body condition score (BCS) and blood samples were collected monthly for 2 years during the travel ban to measure: (1) muscle enzymes [creatine kinase (CK), aspartate aminotransferase (AST)]; (2) liver enzymes [aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT)]; (3) lipids [total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), low (LDL) and high (HDL) density lipoproteins]; and metabolic function [glucose, insulin, fructosamine]. Serum CK concentrations were lower at the end of the study, possibly due to no tourist activities like riding. Changes in liver function included increased AST and ALP, also possibly due to physical inactivity. Feeding less bananas and sugar cane was associated with fewer elephants in the obese category and lower TG concentrations. However, increases in glucose, insulin and fructosamine were observed as local people returned to feed elephants after lifting travel restrictions. In sum, changes in several health biomarkers were observed in association with restricted activities and food resources. Camps need better plans to meet the health and welfare needs of elephants during any future disruptions to the tourism industry, although reduced feeding of sweet treats appeared to have positive effects on body condition and metabolic function.

Keywords: COVID-19; Thailand; elephant; health; tourism.

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This study was supported in part from the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute (SCBI, USA) through a grant from the Shared Earth Foundation as part of a Memorandum of Understanding with Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Chiang Mai University (grant number R000032244) and the Chiang Mai University (grant number R66IN00349). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.