Most elephants in captivity have been poached from the wild, stolen away from their families as babies and then sold into cruel captivity. While there are some that are bred in captivity, this is extremely difficult and rare, as the neglect and abuse elephants face in captivity makes it difficult and often dangerous for them to conceive and give birth. Even if bred in captivity, elephant calves are separated from their mothers much too early and have to undergo the same brutal breaking-in process suffering extreme trauma.
