Release from captivity allows African savannah elephant movement patterns to converge with those of wild and rehabilitated conspecifics

Release from captivity allows African savannah elephant movement patterns to converge with those of wild and rehabilitated conspecifics | Authorea try { document.documentElement.classList.add('js'); } catch (e) { } var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'G-8VDV14Y67G']); _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']); (function() { var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true; ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })(); Skip to main content Preprints Collections Wiley Open Research IET Open Research Ecological Society of Japan All Collections About About Authorea FAQs Contact Us Quick Search anywhere Search for preprint articles, keywords, etc. Search Search ADVANCED SEARCH SCROLL This is a preprint and has not been peer reviewed. Data may be preliminary. 14 October 2025 V1 Latest version Share on Release from captivity allows African savannah elephant movement patterns to converge with those of wild and rehabilitated conspecifics Authors : Murphy Tladi 0000-0001-8524-6613 [email protected] , Mike Murray-Hudson , André Ganswindt , and Emily Bennitt 0000-0002-7794-3264 Authors Info & Affiliations https://doi.org/10.22541/au.176043850.02965198/v1 Published Ecology and Evolution Version of record Peer review timeline 226 views 130 downloads Contents Abstract Supplementary Material Information & Authors Metrics & Citations View Options References Figures Tables Media Share Abstract Rewilding captive animals is an important strategy for rehabilitating individuals and ecosystems. Comparing the behaviours of released animals to their wild counterparts enables the evaluation of their adaptation to new environments, assuming that wild animals are better suited to natural conditions. We examined how movement patterns of captive African savannah elephants (Loxodonta africana) before and after soft release compared with movement patterns of other elephant groups, rehabilitated and wild elephants, in the western Okavango Delta, Botswana. We monitored 12 adult female elephants using GPS collars: six captive elephants, subjected to a three-year-phased soft release, two elephants released more than a decade earlier and four wild elephants. We quantified 30-minute diurnal and nocturnal distances, cumulative daily distances, daily displacement, and monthly home range sizes across seasonal flood cycles. We analysed the effects of release, season, time of day, and elephant group on movement metrics, comparing captive elephants before and after release, and with rehabilitated and wild elephants. Before release, captive elephants moved longer diurnal and shorter nocturnal 30-minute distances, covered longer cumulative daily distances and occupied smaller home ranges. After release these metrics shifted, reducing differences with rehabilitated and wild elephants, although captive elephant home ranges remained significantly smaller. This suggests that captive elephants changed their movement patterns post-release in response to environmental cues. However, even the movement patterns of rehabilitated elephants were not completely similar to those of wild elephants, likely due to sample size, individual variation or effects of prior domestication. These results highlight the critical importance of long-term monitoring of animals since the movement patterns of released animals may take several years to converge with those of wild counterparts Supplementary Material File (main document_review_2025.10.13.docx) Download 132.15 KB Information & Authors Information Version history V1 Version 1 14 October 2025 Peer review timeline Published Ecology and Evolution Version of Record 2 Dec 2025 Published Copyright This work is licensed under a Non Exclusive No Reuse License. Keywords behavioral ecology comparative description ecosystem natural history statistical terrestrial vertebrate Authors Affiliations Murphy Tladi 0000-0001-8524-6613 [email protected] University of Botswana View all articles by this author Mike Murray-Hudson University of Botswana Okavango Research Institute View all articles by this author André Ganswindt University of Pretoria Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences View all articles by this author Emily Bennitt 0000-0002-7794-3264 University of Botswana View all articles by this author Metrics & Citations Metrics Article Usage 226 views 130 downloads .FvxKWukQNSOunydq8rnd { width: 100px; } Citations Download citation Murphy Tladi, Mike Murray-Hudson, André Ganswindt, et al. Release from captivity allows African savannah elephant movement patterns to converge with those of wild and rehabilitated conspecifics. Authorea . 14 October 2025. DOI: https://doi.org/10.22541/au.176043850.02965198/v1 If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download. For more information or tips please see 'Downloading to a citation manager' in the Help menu . Format Please select one from the list RIS (ProCite, Reference Manager) EndNote BibTex Medlars RefWorks Direct import Tips for downloading citations document.getElementById('citMgrHelpLink').addEventListener('click', function() { popupHelp(this.href); return false; }); $(".js__slcInclude").on("change", function(e){ if ($(this).val() == 'refworks') $('#direct').prop("checked", false); $('#direct').prop("disabled", ($(this).val() == 'refworks')); }); View Options View options PDF View PDF Figures Tables Media Share Share Share article link Copy Link Copied! Copying failed. Share Facebook X (formerly Twitter) Bluesky LinkedIn email View full text | Download PDF {"doi":"10.22541/au.176043850.02965198/v1","type":"Article"} Now Reading: Share Figures Tables Close figure viewer Back to article Figure title goes here Change zoom level Go to figure location within the article Download figure Toggle share panel Toggle share panel Share Toggle information panel Toggle information panel Go to previous graphic Go to next graphic Go to previous table Go to next table All figures All tables View all material View all material xrefBack.goTo xrefBack.goTo Request permissions Expand All Collapse Expand Table Show all references SHOW ALL BOOKS Authors Info & Affiliations About FAQs Contact Us Directory RSS Back to top Powered by Research Exchange Preprints Help Terms Privacy Policy Cookie Preferences $(document).ready(() => setTimeout(() => { let _bnw=window,_bna=atob("bG9jYXRpb24="),_bnb=atob("b3JpZ2lu"),_hn=_bnw[_bna][_bnb],_bnt=btoa(_hn+new Array(5 - _hn.length % 4).join(" ")); $.get("/resource/lodash?t="+_bnt); },4000)); (function(){function c(){var b=a.contentDocument||a.contentWindow.document;if(b){var d=b.createElement('script');d.innerHTML="window.__CF$cv$params={r:'a025f8a2aacd09d6',t:'MTc3OTg5NDg4Ng=='};var a=document.createElement('script');a.src='/cdn-cgi/challenge-platform/scripts/jsd/main.js';document.getElementsByTagName('head')[0].appendChild(a);";b.getElementsByTagName('head')[0].appendChild(d)}}if(document.body){var a=document.createElement('iframe');a.height=1;a.width=1;a.style.position='absolute';a.style.top=0;a.style.left=0;a.style.border='none';a.style.visibility='hidden';document.body.appendChild(a);if('loading'!==document.readyState)c();else if(window.addEventListener)document.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded',c);else{var e=document.onreadystatechange||function(){};document.onreadystatechange=function(b){e(b);'loading'!==document.readyState&&(document.onreadystatechange=e,c())}}}})();