Captive elephants in sanctuaries and zoos face widely varying welfare standards. Evidence-based sanctuary design and management can allow elephants to live relatively good lives outside the wild.
Captive elephant welfare depends critically on space, substrate, social groupings, and training methodology. Traditional aversive training (bull hooks, sharp implements) is being replaced in progressive facilities by positive reinforcement protected contact management, which maintains elephant agency and reduces stress. Soft substrate for foot health, sufficient space for social movement, and species-appropriate groupings — matriarchal herds for African elephants — dramatically improve welfare outcomes. True sanctuaries that provide large natural spaces with minimal performance demands represent the current gold standard for animals unable to return to the wild.