Air temperature and diet influence body composition and water turnover in zoo-living African elephants (Loxodonta africana).

ABSTRACT: African elephants, the largest land animal, face particular physiological challenges in captivity and the wild. Captive elephants can become over- or under-conditioned with inadequate exercise and diet management. Few studies have quantified body composition or water turnover in elephants, and none to date have examined longitudinal responses to changes in diet or air temperature. Using the stable isotope deuterium oxide (²H₂O), we investigated changes in body mass, estimated fat-free mass (FFM, including fat-free gut content) and body fat in response to a multi-year intervention that reduced dietary energy density for adult African elephants housed at the North Carolina Zoo. We also examined the relationship between air temperature and water turnover. Deuterium dilut

SUBMITTER: Pontzer H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7735349 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature