Five-Year Study Finds Rewilded Elephants Develop Successful Coping Mechanisms, with Individual Differences

Five-year study finds rewilded elephants develop successful coping mechanisms, with individual differences

Ex-captive elephants released into the wild adapt well to wild environments, according to a study published July 29, 2026, in the journal PLOS One by Tenisha Roos and Tamara Eggeling of the Elephant Reintegration Trust of South Africa and colleagues.

Elephants can relearn how to live wild after years in captivity

Researchers documented behavioral similarities between 11 rehabilitated elephants and their wild counterparts.

Elephants develop successful coping mechanisms when returning to the wild

image: Rewilded elephants on !Khamab Kalahari Reserve, who were observed during this research project (from left to right: Ngwedi, Mana, Michael, and Chikwenya). view more  Credit: Elephant Reintegration Trust, CC-BY 4.0 ( Ex-captive elephants released into the wild adapt quite well to the return to wild environments, according to a study published July 29, 2026 in the […]