Obesity In Zoo Elephants

Textual Evidence: “Social Beasts: The elephant’s massive stature and instantly recognizable trunk are familiar to people around the world. Elephant society is matriarchal; the groups are highly social and ruled by an older, dominant

The official title of the world’s largest land dwelling animal belongs to the elephant, more specifically, the African elephant. Elephants also are some of the most deadly animals, which therefore increase the danger of human and elephant interactions. The more human interactions occur, the more deaths result, whether it is the elephant or the human who dies. These animals, surprisingly, are socially apt; their trunk is used for more than just eating and drinking- it is used for socializing. They are complex animals who live in large familial herds-females stay with their family throughout their entire lives while males only stay for approximately fifteen years (Elephant Protection, 1). Elephants possess a great memory and only forget what they learn occasionally and rarely, giving way to the “an elephant never forgets” saying (Maloiy, 178c). Despite how many people use the beloved saying, elephants may not be around much longer due to the shortened life span and increased mortality rates. Due to their incisor teeth, tusks, being extremely expensive and profitable, they are being murdered for the wealth they carry. This, coupled with the life span shortening because of malicious treatments and brutal practices reduces the life span of the African elephant from 56 to 16 years and the Asian elephant from 42 to 19 years (Elephant Protection, 1). According to what the statistics show, elephants may be following their ancestors to their death. Of the group of mammals called

The WHO classifies an adult with a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 30 or above as being obese. The BMI tool is used globally, and is calculated by dividing a person’s body weight in kilograms by their height in inches. Bostram and Eliasson (2006) argue a serious weakness with BMI is that the measure cannot differentiate between fat and muscle mass, and that a change in girth or abdominal circumference is a better reflection on the onset of obesity among other associated problems such as type 2 diabetes. Obesity is one of the major public health issues affecting society and is fast becoming a major cause of death across the globe. Seidell & Halberstadt (2015) indicate that the prevalence of obesity is growing at an alarming rate, and over the last thirty years, overnutrition and obesity has transformed from a minor health issue which affected only the most affluent of societies, to being a major threat to public health throughout the world.

For about twenty eight years now the Asian elephant has been struggling for existence. They have been classified as endangered species by The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Twenty eight years is quite a large amount of time for an animal to be classified as endangered so The Zoological Society of London decided to look into this issue. Asian elephants have been transferred to captivity for quite some time in the North American region. The Elephas maximus have been captured from these countries in southern Asia and brought over to North America and have experienced many complications that can hinder the genetic diversity of the evolution of the species. Captive populations of the Elephas maximus species may be essential for genetic preservation and aid in decreasing the deterioration of the authentic population (Brenneman et al. 2011).

With over 22.5% of the current U.S. population considered to be clinically obese, compared to only 14.5% in 1980, there does not seem to be a cessation of this epidemic in sight (Hill & Peters, 1998). Goran and Weisners' (2000) proposal that "... the inherently lower resting metabolic rate in women versus men is responsible for the higher adiposity rates in women..." is wanting, especially since the potentially modifiable factors of; less physical strength, less daily free-living physical activity, and lower total energy expenditure are more likely the cause of the differences in observed adiposity between men and women. Since our genetic makeup has not appreciably changed in the last twenty years, we cannot strictly attribute the explosion of obesity to genetics. As these biological causes of obesity are disproved, a focus on the environment as a reason for obesity is taking centre-stage.

As a result of this, there is less foraging activity seen among captive gorillas. Additionally, captive gorillas are relatively inactive compared to wild gorillas. Because captive gorilla diets are high in calories, the combination of that with the low amounts of fiber in their diet, and reduced activity levels in captivity could contribute to obesity in zoo gorillas. This is further supported by the fact that the gorillas in zoos weighed more on average than their wild counterparts. Increasing the fiber content in the captive gorillas’ diets would allow for greater variety in diet, as well as help improve their health (Smith, Remis, & Dierenfeld, 2014).

Let’s talk about elephants and donkeys, and no, this is not at the zoo. These are the two political parties that run the government in America. Today, America primarily has a two-party system, the Democrats and Republicans. They are always seen on the news bickering and fighting with one another, and it is never a surprise if a bill is going to pass, depending on which party is in control of Congress at the moment. When you get into an argument with a sibling, significant other, parents, etc., it can make it hard to focus on anything else going on in life. The parties are always at each other’s throats, which makes one wonder if they are focused on the well-being of this nation. Helen Keller once said in regard to politics, “Our democracy is but a name. We vote. What does that mean? . . . We choose between two . . . bodies of autocrats. We choose between Tweedledum and Tweedledee” (qtd. in “Challengers of Duopoly”). Something needs to change so that America gets back the representative democracy it once was; we are a nation of 320,000,000 people and counting, yet we are supposed to be split into two measly groups when it comes to politics? A third-party candidate, and the acceptance of independents, would allow America to become a more democratic nation and help with the current polarization of the parties.

Obesity has been around for several thousands of years but hasn’t always been a serious epidemic. A higher amount of fat or stored energy used to mean a greater chance at surviving a famine, but those times are long gone in the industrialized world. As time has progressed, we’ve see an exponential growth in obesity rates despite our best efforts to slow it down. In order to contain and eventually decrease obesity rates, we would first need to know what fuels this powerful monster of the western culture. Has our problem been generated from an increase in inactivity, sugar consumption, fat consumption, other factors or a combination of them? A collection of studies have been observed to discover what the real main factor to obesity in

Obesity in the United States is an epidemic of growing proportions. According to the Center for Disease Control more than one-third (34.9% or 78.6 million) of U.S. adults are obese. ("Adult Obesity Facts", 2014). Obesity is defined as a body mass index or BMI, over 30. A person’s height and weight are used to determine BMI but does not measure how much body fat a person has.

Why do we find so much food in dumpsters? According to the National Assets Defense Council, America discards about 40% of meals produced every year (Osterweil). Even as individuals are accountable for losing meals, restaurants and bakeries are similarly responsible for their food wastes. They generally tend to throw away most ingredients and ingredients that can no longer be used. One of the principal motives to why the USA produces a lot of waste from meals is because of the supermarkets. Most supermarkets find significance in their “appearance, convenience and profit” (Osterweil). They show massive amounts of food at once to enchant their clients as if it were a show. Consequently, if the supermarkets have leftovers, items that the customers have not purchased, they may discard it.

Finally, animal activists are concerned about the lifespan of captive animals. Studies have shown that African elephants in the wild live to an average age of fifty six years old, whereas their captive counterparts live to an average of seventeen years old (Wild). That’s a difference of thirty nine years. Asian elephants bred in captivity didn’t live as long as wild elephants brought into captivity. Animals living in sanctuary have similar average lifespans to those living in the wild. Zoos and aquaria advertise about their great veterinary care provided for every animal, but if they aren’t living as long as their wild counterparts, is all the preventative testing helping them? Living in captivity actually lessens, not lengthens, an animal’s

There is no doubt that obesity in pets can be detrimental to their health and shorten their lifespan. Even though dog owners in developed countries have a basic knowledge of what is best for their dogs, obesity in pets is still an epidemic (Corbee, 2012 p. 904). There are many factors that contribute to this epidemic, some can be directly linked to the owner’s bad habits. Human’s bad habits can transfer to their dog such as weight gain as both dog and human tend to share the same lifestyle. For example, factors may be arbitrarily associated with owners not being fully educated on what is the “norm” for their dog’s breed, feeding proportions, types of food, exercise regiments, being neutered, and socioeconomic status of the owner (Degelin and Rock 2012, p. 40).

The elephant is the only mammal that can not jump. Elephants are fascinating animals because of their behavior, diet, habitat, and how they care for their young. The elephant's diet is very specific. They mostly eat roots, grass, leaves,twigs, bark,fruit and seed pods (African elephants; Janssen).

Large endothermic animals use metabolism to produce their own body heat. For these animals, exercise under tropical conditions could potentially be harmful. Heavy endotherms, such as elephants and dinosaurs, have decreased skin surface area to body mass ratios compared with other endotherms. This suggests that they have difficulty getting rid excess heat produced during exercise. However, behavioural choices of nocturnal activity may help reduce heat storage. Large size elephants’ body core and change in tissue insulation results in regional heterothermy, which influences rate of heat storage. Michael Rowe and his colleagues tested how two elephants, similar in size and habitat preferences, cope with exercising in hot conditions.

From the above discussion, it can be seen that not only that the elder matriarchal leaders are vital to maintaining the equilibrium state inside the herd, they too play an enormous role in determining the way in which the group will react to the outside influences, and that function also contributes to the degree in which the group is dependent on these old ladies . One of the most direct way that this influence can be recognized is in the ability to survive from dangerous predators. In “ Leadership in elephants: the adaptive value of age” and “Matriarchs As Repositories of Social Knowledge in African Elephants”, conducted by Karen McComb and two different teams, an experiment is carried out, in which the different elephant families are