Populations of Asian elephants being held in captivity are slowly fading away due to high death rates among calves that have been taken from their mothers.

Prioritising the welfare of these young elephants, as well as pregnant females, would not only help preserve this endangered species but also the industry that relies on them, scientists say.

In countries like India, Myanmar and Thailand, elephants are used in the timber sector to drag logs, or else as tourist attractions.

Currently a third of all Asian elephants are held in captivity in these nations, but the sustainability of their populations has always relied on handlers capturing them from the wild.

The scientists worked alongside the Myanmar Timber Enterprise to track how trends in elephant capture influenced a population of 3,500 working elephants over 54 years.

The blind elephants of India's popular Amber Fort tourist attraction Show all 7 1 /7 The blind elephants of India's popular Amber Fort tourist attraction The blind elephants of India's popular Amber Fort tourist attraction Amber Fort is one of India’s biggest tourist attractions, where elephants, many of whom are blind and lame, are forced to haul tourists up and down the steep fort Moving Animals The blind elephants of India's popular Amber Fort tourist attraction More than 100 elephants are kept at Amber Fort Moving Animals The blind elephants of India's popular Amber Fort tourist attraction Of the 103 elephants, 10 had tuberculosis, 19 were blind in one eye or both, and all suffered foot problems, according to a 2018 health report by the Animal Welfare Board of India Moving Animals The blind elephants of India's popular Amber Fort tourist attraction When the animals are not forced to give rides to tourists they are often kept alone at night, heavily chained in “concrete boxes”. The Elephant Village is a few miles from Amber Fort so they have a long distance to walk each day, on roads busy with traffic. Moving Animals The blind elephants of India's popular Amber Fort tourist attraction Many show signs of psychological distress, such as repetitive swaying and head-bobbing, experts say Moving Animals The blind elephants of India's popular Amber Fort tourist attraction Amber Fort attracts thousands of tourists each day, who want to have rides up the steep hills on decorated elephants. Many visitors do not realise the animals are blind or lame. Moving Animals The blind elephants of India's popular Amber Fort tourist attraction Tourist elephant rides are a steady business at Amber Fort Moving Animals

“Our model suggests we may see declines in captive elephants for up to 50 years so we must now work to ensure that the captive population is sustainable,” said John Jackson from the University of Sheffield, who led the study.

“With so many Asian elephants in captivity, we must safeguard both captive and wild elephant populations and the people living and working alongside them for the future of the species.”

In practice, this means improving captive elephant welfare standards and reducing mortality rates in the young.

Calves in Myanmar are taken away from their mothers at the age of five so they can begin training, learning commands and undertaking light carrying work. This process is stressful and is thought to contribute to the elevated death rates.

The scientists suggested that helping to improve infant survival by just 10 per cent could mean a growing rather than declining captive elephant population.

This could be achieved by modifying the training process to make it less traumatic, as well as reducing stress in reproductive-age females and monitoring newborn calves.

Given that taking elephants from the wild in Myanmar has technically been banned since 1994, such measures would also benefit the people who continue to use them for labour by ensuring they still have working elephants in the years to come.

Villagers knit jumpers for Indian elephants to protect them from near-freezing temperatures

Previous work revealed that taking elephants from the wild drastically shortened their lives.

“The dependence of captive elephant populations on capture from the wild in the past is truly alarming,” said Professor Virpi Lummaa from the University of Turku, who led the research.

“The problem with elephants is that they take so long to grow and reproduce and have very complex social lives, making them vulnerable to population declines when disturbed.”

With tourists often encountering captive elephants on trips to southeast Asia, the scientists noted that everyone can play a role in supporting high welfare standards among these populations.

Their results were published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.