About the Authors

Stephen Blake

sblakewcs@gmail.com

Affiliations Wildlife Conservation Society, Bronx, New York, United States of America, Department of Biology and Whitney R. Harris World Ecology Center, University of Missouri - St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri, United States of America, Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, ‘Vogelwarte Radolfzell’, Radolfzell, Germany

Sharon L. Deem

Affiliations Department of Biology and Whitney R. Harris World Ecology Center, University of Missouri - St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri, United States of America, WildCare Institute, Saint Louis Zoo, St. Louis, Missouri, United States of America

Samantha Strindberg

Affiliation Wildlife Conservation Society, Bronx, New York, United States of America

Fiona Maisels

Affiliation Wildlife Conservation Society, Bronx, New York, United States of America

Ludovic Momont

Affiliation Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Ménagerie du Jardin des Plantes, Laboratoire de Conservation des Espèces, UMR 5173 Muséum-CNRS, 57, Paris, France

Inogwabini-Bila Isia

Affiliation The Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology, The University of Kent, Canterbury, Kent, United Kingdom

Iain Douglas-Hamilton

Affiliations Save the Elephants, Langata Link Complex, Langata, Nairobi, Kenya, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom

William B. Karesh

Affiliation Wildlife Conservation Society, Bronx, New York, United States of America

Michael D. Kock

Affiliation Wildlife Conservation Society, Bronx, New York, United States of America

Competing Interests

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Author Contributions

Conceived and designed the experiments: SB LM. Performed the experiments: SB SLD FGM LM IBI WBK MDK. Analyzed the data: SB SS. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: IDH. Wrote the paper: SB. Provided veterinary services during immobilisation of elephants: SLD WBK MDK. Provided strong technical assistance throughout the study: IDH.