The AZA standards for Elephant Care and Management states:

Every AZA institution should contribute in some way to elephant research activities. Involvement in one or more of the following disciplines is strongly recommended: behavior, cognition, reproduction, communication, enrichment, health and education.

Humans have learned more about elephants and their needs in the last 20 years than in the last 200 years.  AZA institutions have played a leading role in the understanding and knowledge of elephants through an active program of elephant research. 

Many elephant research questions can be answered through scientific inquiry using elephants in the care of humans.  Reproduction, memory, communication, visual acuity, nutritional requirements, pathology of disease and its treatment are a few topics that have been researched in AZA institutions.  Because elephants in the care of humans are both easily accessible and acclimated to the close proximity of humans they can provide scientists with the opportunity to explore field research questions even further.  In recent years, elephant breeding has been more successful in both species because of increased efforts in natural reproduction and technical advances in assisted reproduction.

Elephants in AZA institutions provide a unique opportunity to learn more about the species through scientific research.  Listed below are a some of the more recent elephant research projects that continue to add to our body of knowledge.  They are listed by topic, project title, year, species and a brief project description.

Elephant TAG/SSP Conservation/Research Project Review and Endorsement Instructions