Foot disease is the leading cause of premature death and euthanasia in zoo elephants. Substrate management, exercise, and foot care protocols are central to modern elephant welfare programmes.
Elephant foot disease represents a welfare failure with a clear structural cause: the inability of early zoo design to meet the locomotor and substrate needs of the world's largest land mammals. Hard concrete substrates that were once standard cause overgrowth of the nail and hoof pad, cracking, secondary bacterial and fungal infections, and osteomyelitis that can penetrate to bone. The pain from advanced foot disease is severe and progressive. Modern zoo elephant management has transformed substrate provision, with naturalistic mixed substrates now standard at accredited facilities. Equal importance is placed on exercise: encouraging elephants to walk substantial distances throughout large exhibits with varied terrain addresses both foot health and cardiovascular fitness. Operant conditioning for cooperative foot care allows daily inspection and treatment without requiring restraint, reducing both elephant and keeper stress.