Foot disease is the leading cause of euthanasia in captive elephants, driven by inadequate substrates and limited movement compared to wild ranging behavior.
Foot problems in captive elephants cause chronic debilitating pain that significantly impairs quality of life. The contrast between wild and captive movement patterns is stark: wild elephants wear their nails and pads naturally through kilometers of daily walking, while captive animals on hard floors develop overgrown nails, cracked pads, and eventually deep abscesses that may require years of treatment or lead to euthanasia.