The Warsaw Zoo will administer medical cannabis to its elephants in an attempt to reduce their stress levels, we learned from project officials on Wednesday.
Medicinal cannabis therapies for dogs or horses are already known in the world, but “this is probably the first project of its kind focused on elephants,” Agnieszka Czujkowska, veterinarian in charge of the garden program, told AFP. zoology of the Polish capital.
Home to three African elephants, the zoo begins to test the effects on these animals of a high concentration of Cannabidiol known as CBD, which has no euphoric effects and which remains harmless to the liver and kidneys.
“It is a matter of eventually finding a new natural alternative to existing methods of combating stress, especially drugs” that we tend to administer generally, according to Ms. Czujkowska.
The elephants at the Warsaw Zoo, which recently experienced the loss of the dominant female, are already undergoing continuous stress level checks, assessed on the basis of hormonal fluctuations and behavioral observations.
This is a long-term project that should spread over a year and a half or even two years, before we reach any conclusive results, according to her.
Similar programs could then be launched on other animals living in captivity.
“Contrary to what some people imagine, cannabis will not be administered to elephants either by barrels or by pipes,” adds Ms. Czujkowska with a laugh.
The first minimum doses will be comparable to those administered to horses: a bottle of ten drops of CBD oil, two to three times a day.
“The female Fryderyka has already tasted it and she did not say no,” said Ms. Czujkowska.