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Elephants can relearn how to live wild after years in captivity

A five-year study shows complex signs of the elephants’ adaptation

A group of elephants stand at the edge of water.

These elephants on the !Khamab Kalahari Reserve in South Africa appear to have adjusted to the wild, a new study suggests. Ngwedi (farthest left) was born in captivity, while Mana, Michael and Chikwenya (left to right) were caught as calves and used for tourism.

Elephant Reintegration Trust (CC-BY 4.0)

By Priyanka Runwal

After decades in tourist camps and circuses, African elephants that were returned to the wild are behaving, in many respects, like elephants that were never captive.