Poor living conditions, stress plague elephants in Korean zoos

Only one of 10 elephants that died at Korean zoos and other captive facilities from known causes was recorded as having died of natural causes related to old age, a new report has found.

Most facilities kept indoor enclosures — spaces where animals can stay out of public view — closed during visiting hours, with keepers explaining that they did so because visitors complained when elephants went inside and could no longer be seen.

According to a report titled “Survey on the Welfare of Captive Elephants in Korea,” released Monday by the animal rights group Animal Liberation Wave, only one of the 10 elephants whose causes of death were identified died naturally of old age. Their average age at death was 32.1.

The leading causes of death included cardiovascular and circulatory diseases, as well as foot and joint disorders. The group said these conditions were closely linked to captive environments, including confined spaces, hard flooring and insufficient exercise.

The survey was conducted from March to June this year at nine facilities that keep elephants in Korea. Researchers visited eight of them, excluding one that was inaccessible due to closure and preparations for reopening, and assessed their conditions based on standards set by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) and the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria. In response to inquiries sent to the facilities through the office of Rep. Lee Hak-young of the Democratic Party of Korea, the group estimated that 22 elephants are currently held in captivity nationwide.

Of the eight facilities visited, six kept the doors to indoor enclosures closed during public visiting hours. This meant elephants could neither rest away from visitors’ gaze nor freely choose whether to move between indoor and outdoor spaces.

“Resting in an indoor enclosure is natural behavior for animals. We need institutional and educational measures to help the public understand this and ensure that facility policies are not dictated by visitor complaints,” said Yang Oneul, a senior campaigner at Animal Liberation Wave.

The revised edition of Britain’s “Secretary of State’s Standards of Modern Zoo Practice,” released last year, stipulates that animals requiring both indoor and outdoor spaces must be allowed to move freely between them. It also prohibits routine restrictions on access, except in specified circumstances such as cleaning, medical treatment and extreme weather.

Three facilities also kept elephants — highly social animals that naturally live in herds — in isolation. At most facilities, elephants displayed behaviors such as repeatedly swaying their bodies or pacing back and forth in the same spot, which are widely recognized as signs of stress. Environmental enrichment — providing animals with surroundings and stimuli that encourage natural behaviors — was often limited to basic items such as tires and wooden blocks, the report said.

Conditions varied widely among facilities. Outdoor enclosure space per elephant ranged from 4,980 square meters at the largest facility to just 100 square meters at the smallest, a nearly 50-fold difference. The group noted that Korea’s current legal minimum of 125 square meters per elephant is only one-quarter of the approximately 500-square-meter-per-elephant space recommended by the AZA.

All but one facility used concrete flooring in indoor enclosures, while only one provided a separate sand area.

Staffing conditions were also poor. No facility had a veterinarian dedicated exclusively to elephants. At many facilities, a single veterinarian was responsible for dozens or even more than 100 animal species. The group also pointed to the high proportion of contract and fixed-term zookeepers, as well as frequent staff rotations, which make it difficult to build up specialized expertise.

At Jeju J Facility, the country’s largest elephant-holding facility with seven elephants, the animals were kept tethered by ropes and made to participate in four shows a day, as well as feeding experiences for visitors. The group also criticized the facility for presenting performance routines as a form of environmental enrichment.

In September, the group filed a police complaint against the head of the corporation operating the facility, alleging violations of the Wildlife Protection and Management Act. Asian elephants were added to the list of species requiring registration by captive facilities following a revision to the law’s enforcement decree in March 2023. However, the group alleges that the facility continued operating for about three and a half years without registering with the relevant regional environmental office.

Moreover, because the facility does not qualify as a legally registered zoo, it is not subject to the Zoo and Aquarium Act’s restrictions on animal interaction experiences.

The group called for institutional reforms, arguing that such problems cannot be resolved through individual facilities’ efforts alone. It urged the government to make key provisions in the Environment Ministry’s “Standard Manual for Zoo Management and Animal Care” legally binding rather than leaving them as recommendations. These include discouraging solitary housing, providing environmental enrichment and using positive reinforcement training.

It also called for higher minimum enclosure requirements and the introduction of a zoo license renewal system, under which facilities would undergo regular assessments of their animal welfare conditions even after receiving initial approval.

The group said elephant keeping should be strictly restricted at facilities that fail to meet the standards, with the ultimate goal of expanding “elephant-free zoos” that do not keep the animals in captivity.

In Korea, Cheongju Zoo has already stopped keeping elephants, while Seoul Children’s Grand Park plans to end its elephant-keeping program and is working to relocate the remaining animals.

“Elephants are highly intelligent animals with complex social structures, but Korea’s captive animal standards do not adequately reflect these characteristics,” said Han Eun-ju, head of the policy team at Animal Liberation Wave. “We need specific and effective standards based on the ecological characteristics of each species, and elephant keeping should be strictly restricted at facilities that fail to meet them.”

This article from the Hankook Ilbo, the sister publication of The Korea Times, is translated by a generative AI system and edited by The Korea Times.