Male elephant musth — a period of elevated testosterone and behavioral volatility — creates specific welfare challenges both for the musth elephant and for other animals and humans sharing its landscape.
Male elephant musth welfare involves the welfare of the musth elephant itself — an animal in a state of heightened physiological drive that affects its behavior and conflict risk — and the welfare implications for other animals and humans in shared landscapes. Musth bulls experiencing strong reproductive drive with no access to receptive females may redirect energy into aggressive encounters with other animals or humans. In wild settings, appropriate landscape management that provides space for musth bulls to range without constant human encounter reduces both bull welfare stress and human safety risk. In captive settings, pharmacological suppression of musth raises welfare questions about interfering with a natural reproductive cycle, balanced against the safety risks of unmanaged musth in contained environments. Neither extreme — pharmacological suppression nor unmanaged musth in inadequate facilities — represents optimal welfare management.