Zoo Biology 29 : 221–236 (2010) A Survey of Elephant Husbandry and Foot Health in North American Zoos Karen D. Lewis, 1Ã David J. Shepherdson, 1 Terrah M. Owens, 2 and Mike Keele 1 1 Oregon Zoo, Portland, Oregon 2 Humboldt State University, Department of Biology, Arcata, California The foot health of elephants in human care is a longstanding concern. In 2001, the AZA Standards for Elephant Management and Care were published recommend- ing husbandry to improve foot health. This article reports the results of a 2006 survey: basic statistics describing facility, husbandry, and foot health attributes are reported and relationships among variables are investigated. Median area available to elephants exceeded Standard recommendations (755 ft 2 per elephant indoor and 10,000 ft 2 outdoor). Concrete makes up 69% of indoor area and natural substrates account for 85% of outdzoor area. Elephants in AZA facilities received an average of 45.5 min/day of exercise, and facilities with a structured exercise plan provided significantly more exercise than did facilities without a structured exercise plan (z 5 2.522, P 5 0.012). Enrichment is important to psychological health and may also stimulate activity beneficial to foot health; 95% of institutions had a structured enrichment program. Preventative foot care was nearly universal, and 100% of facilities performed routine nail and pad trimming. However, foot pathology has not been eradicated; 33% of institutions reported at least one pathology in the previous year. This study found a strong inverse relationship between foot pathology and exercise (w 2 (3) 5 24.34, Po0.001). Younger herds were less likely to have a member diagnosed with arthritis (w 2 (1) 5 8.90, P 5 0.003). Lameness was unrelated to age or pathology, and only the presence of arthritis explained lameness (z 5 7.81, Po0.001). African elephants seemed to experience lower rates of foot pathology and arthritis than Asian elephants; however, this was explained by differences in age. Zoo Biol 29:221–236, 2010. r 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc. Keywords: exercise; pathology; logistic regression; health; enrichment Published online 11 December 2009 in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/zoo.20291 Received 21 July 2008; Revised 2 October 2009; Accepted 23 October 2009 Ã Correspondence to: Karen D. Lewis, Conservation Research Associate, Oregon Zoo, 4001 SW Canyon Road, Portland, OR 97221-2799. E-mail: karen.lewis@oregonzoo.org r r 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc.