Physiological changes in captive elephants in northern Thailand as a result of the COVID-19 tourism ban-stress biomarkers

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

doi:10.3389/fvets.2024.1351361

Physiological changes in captive elephants in northern Thailand as a result of the COVID-19 tourism ban-stress biomarkers

Front Vet Sci. 2024 Feb 9:11:1351361. doi: 10.3389/fvets.2024.1351361. eCollection 2024.

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, Patcharapa Towiboon², Nopphamas Somboon⁶, 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 University, Chiang Mai, Thailand.
³ Elephant, Wildlife, and Companion Animals Research Group, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, Thailand.
⁴ Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, Center for Species Survival, 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 instituted by the Thai government in March 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic greatly affected how tourist camp elephants were managed, with reductions in exercise opportunities, longer chaining hours, and diminished food provisioning. This study was conducted to determine how those changes affected health and welfare biomarkers in individual elephants over the 2 years of the countrywide lockdown (April 2020-April 2022). Blood and fecal samples were collected from 58 elephants at six camps (monthly in Year 1, quarterly in Year 2) and analyzed for stress biomarkers - fecal glucocorticoid metabolites (fGCM), serum oxidative stress [malondialdehyde (MDA) and 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG)], and stress leukograms. Overall, fGCM concentrations increased within the first few months and remained higher than pre-COVID levels, as did the H/L ratio, a measure affected by cortisol. Serum 8-OHdG, an indicator of DNA oxidative damage, also increased over time, while monocytosis and lymphopenia further suggested alterations in immune function as a result of stress. By contrast, another marker of oxidative stress, serum MDA, declined, possibly in response to reduced roughage and supplement intake. A notable finding was a seasonal pattern of fGCM that was significantly different from previous studies. Whereas higher fGCM during the rainy season were observed in this study, previously, concentrations were highest during the winter, high tourist season. Thus, ironically, both the presence and absence of tourists have been associated with increased fGCM concentrations, albeit for different reasons. Camp management factors negatively affecting stress outcomes included shorter chain lengths, longer chain hours, lack of exercise, and reduced roughage and supplements. Overall, it was clear that camps struggled to maintain adequate care for elephants during the COVID-19 pandemic, highlighting the importance of tourist income and need for contingency plans to cope with potential future disruptions to tourism.

Keywords: 8-hydroxy-2′-deoxyguanosine; Asian elephant; glucocorticoids; malondialdehyde; oxidative stress; stress leukogram; welfare.

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, United States) 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.