Elephants are built to travel long distances and forage for food, but in zoos, they’re denied the opportunity to do either, which thwarts their natural instincts, leading to profound frustration.

The definition of foraging is “to wander or go in search of provisions.” For 20 hours a day, wild elephants sweep through savannas and forests feasting on an Edenic array of grass, tree bark, twigs, roots, fruits, and plants galore. This essential behavior keeps them mentally and physically healthy. Because zoo enclosures are so small and bereft of any natural browse, elephants are deprived of this vital experience. Elephants eat 350 pounds of vegetation a day, and would soon devour any plant life inside their tiny exhibits. They are confined to barren dirt or sand lots, only able to view but not reach the tempting foliage outside of their exhibits.

The immense amount of movement involved in foraging is just as important to the elephant’s well-being as the nutrients in the food. Lack of sufficient movement is what leads to arthritis, joint, and often fatal foot disease. Elephant minds and bodies have been programmed for eons to roam for miles. Without this exercise, they also suffer from brain damage. This is evidenced by the repetitive zoochotic behavior observed in captive elephants.

Zoos claim they provide foraging opportunities by throwing sticks and branches into the enclosures, but picking up sticks from the ground is very different from moving across vast distances to forage, which besides walking, includes stretching up to reach branches on trees and digging into the earth with their powerful tusks to pull up roots. 

Most of the food provided to elephants in captivity is hay, and it’s a limited supply at that, controlled by timed feeders. Elephants spend their days moving over an acre or two to check on the supply of hay in the feeders. That is hardly enough activity to satisfy the complex needs of elephants. 

Due to the problem of obesity in captivity, elephants are often underfed, leading to more frustration. It is obvious from their behavior that elephants are desperate to reach grass and other nutrient-rich browse that is outside of their exhibit spaces.

The inability to forage is another reason elephants are uniquely unsuited to captivity. It is time for zoos to halt breeding, shuffling elephants around like furniture from zoo to zoo, and close their elephant exhibit as 37 zoos have already done.

To learn more about what’s wrong with zoos, check out our 10 Worst Zoos for Elephants.