Captive elephant welfare has been scrutinised intensively following documentation of stereotypic behaviour, foot disease, reproductive failure, and shortened lifespan in zoo and circus populations. The five welfare domains provide a useful framework: captive elephants frequently experience nutritional inadequacy (restricted foraging), physical health problems (foot pad disease, arthritis from hard substrates), behavioural restriction (limited movement, social instability), and psychological compromise (separation from bonded individuals, predictable routine disruption). Research confirms wild elephants travel 30-80 km daily; captive facilities cannot provide equivalent space. Positive welfare indicators for captive elephants include complex social management allowing meaningful choice, natural substrate, mud/water access, and problem-solving enrichment. Captive breeding programmes face ethical and practical challenges: captive-born elephants show poor reproductive success and the population is not self-sustaining without wild-caught imports. Several countries have banned captive elephant keeping for entertainment. AZA and EAZA standards are progressively raising welfare requirements for accredited facilities.