In fa

mily

beh

avio

r ele

phan

ts a

re re

mar

kabl

y co

oper

ativ

e. W

hen

one

is si

ck, t

he o

ther

s brin

g he

r ber

ries,

leav

es a

nd b

ranc

hes t

o ea

t. T

hey

will

try

to ra

ise

the

sick

one

bac

k to

her

feet

. U

ndou

bted

ly, p

rote

ctin

g th

e yo

ung

arou

ses t

he

stro

nges

t em

otio

n w

ithin

the

mat

riarc

hal f

ami-

ly, b

ecau

se th

e sc

ream

of a

cal

f will

cre

ate

a ru

sh

of re

lativ

es to

the

resc

ue.

Rum

blin

g in

infr

a-so

und,

one

fem

ale

will

cal

l mor

e di

stan

t rel

a-tiv

es to

hel

p. S

uch

rum

blin

g is

the

stro

nges

t of

all i

nfra

soni

c ca

lls.

By th

eir h

elpf

ul b

ehav

ior,

elep

hant

s dem

onst

rate

clo

se k

insh

ip ti

es.

Ele

phan

ts

LM1a

ElEp

han

ts

LM1a

Ther

e ar

e tw

o el

epha

nt sp

ecie

s. W

hile

one

va

riety

live

s in

Afr

ica,

the

othe

r inh

abits

Asi

a.

Con

side

rabl

y la

rger

and

mor

e ag

gres

sive

, bot

h m

ales

and

fem

ales

of t

he A

fric

an ty

pe h

ave

tusk

s. In

Asi

a th

e sp

ecie

s is s

mal

ler a

nd fe

-m

ales

hav

e no

tusk

s. C

arry

ing

out h

eavy

labo

r in

man

y co

untr

ies,

mos

t Asi

an e

leph

ants

hav

e be

en d

omes

ticat

ed.

Con

sequ

ently

, circ

us a

nd

zoo

elep

hant

s are

inev

itabl

y fr

om A

sia.

Sin

ce

Afr

ican

ele

phan

ts re

fuse

to b

e ta

med

, the

y w

ill

not w

ork

for m

an.

Surp

risin

gly,

the

two

ele-

phan

t spe

cies

are

ent

irely

diff

eren

t.

In a

ppea

ranc

e an

ele

phan

t—an

d es

peci

ally

its

trun

k—is

impr

essi

ve.

Sure

ly it

is th

e la

rges

t an

d m

ost u

sefu

l nos

e in

the

wor

ld.

Two

finge

rs

at the end of it can pick up peanuts, crack the shells, and pop nuts into the m

outh. In addi-tion, an elephant can fill the trunk w

ith water

and give himself a show

er. Showering the ba-

bies becomes a regular duty of the m

other. The lengthy and pow

erful trunk is what you first

notice about the appearance of the elephant.

Before 1988 people did not know that elephants

could hear two octaves below

humans and

therefore could comm

unicate in infrasound.Infrasound refers to sounds of low

frequency, too low

for the human ear. N

ormally, hum

ans can hear sounds in a range of ten octaves.

Elephants

LM1a

Above that—

higher frequency—is called ultra-

sound. Dolphins can hear four octaves above

what hum

ans can hear. Consequently, they

hear in the ultrasonic range, which is a higher

frequency. Over the last few

years people have designed m

achines to record and reproduce ul-tra- and infrasound so hum

ans can hear them.

Peculiar behavior suggested that elephants could hear w

hat humans could not. Strangely

a herd might engage in sim

ultaneous and sud-den, silent, and synchronized activities. From

five m

iles away related fam

ilies could arrive w

ithin minutes of each other at a w

atering hole. Suddenly a herd w

ould take flight when

a human ear had heard nothing. Since one

hundred animals m

ight suddenly stop, spread their ears, and freeze in their tracks for as long as a m

inute, it seemed they had heard som

e-thing w

hen no sound had been made. Freezing

suggested listening. Freezing predicted sound. Freezing indicated hearing.

Elephants

LM1a

com

e to

drin

k be

fore

the

drift

ing

sand

cov

ers

the

wel

ls.

Sadl

y, p

oach

ers h

ave

sign

ifica

ntly

de

crea

sed

the

popu

latio

n fr

om h

undr

eds t

o do

zens

. If

the

elep

hant

s bec

ome

extin

ct, m

any

othe

r ani

mal

s will

die

of t

hirs

t. U

nfor

tuna

tely

, hu

man

s pur

sue

elep

hant

s int

o th

e ha

rshe

st,

drie

st, a

nd h

otte

st h

abita

t on

eart

h. L

eave

the

elep

hant

kin

gdom

alo

ne!

Ele

phan

ts

LM1b

the

elep

han

t k

ing

do

m

LM1b

Elep

hant

s ap

pear

maj

estic

. Th

ey a

re h

uge.

H

oldi

ng th

eir t

usks

alo

ft in

sniffi

ng p

ostu

re,

few

sigh

ts a

re a

s pic

ture

sque

as e

leph

ants

in

halin

g th

e in

trig

uing

smel

l of h

uman

s.

Equi

pped

with

mig

hty,

mas

sive

mus

cles

in

the

trun

k, a

n el

epha

nt c

an u

proo

t an

aver

age

tree

. A

fter t

he tr

unk,

the

ears

are

mos

t not

able

. W

hile

exc

elle

nt fo

r hea

ring,

the

huge

ear

s are

al

so u

tiliz

ed a

s fan

s to

cool

the

body

. U

nusu

-al

ly, t

he te

ats t

o su

ckle

the

youn

g ar

e lo

cate

d be

twee

n th

e fr

ont,

not t

he h

ind

legs

as w

ith

cow

s and

hor

ses.

Ele

phan

ts re

sem

ble

mam

-m

oths

. Th

ey a

ppea

r mam

mot

h.

Am

ong

elep

hant

spec

ies m

ay b

e fo

und

the

larg

est a

nd m

ost s

tate

ly fo

ur-fo

oted

ani

mal

s in

the

wor

ld.

Rang

ing

from

2,0

00 to

4,0

00 k

ilos,

elep

hant

s con

sum

e to

ns o

f foo

d. S

ince

mos

t A

sian

ele

phan

ts h

ave

been

dom

estic

ated

, fe

w

Asi

an E

leph

ant

remain in the w

ild. In India they were the ani-

mals of royalty. Rarely can one see the roam

-ing herds in A

sia which are com

mon to A

frica. W

hile most A

frican elephants live in game re-

serves and parks, the truly wild ones have dis-

appeared because farmers hate them

when they

damage their crops. Poachers slaughter them

for ivory. The truly w

ild elephant species have vanished from

the planet.

Elephant behavior is astonishing. Throughout life elephants never forget a hum

an who has

hurt them. Throw

ing him w

ith their trunks, they w

ill hold a man dow

n and stamp on him

w

ith both front feet. Norm

ally elephants like hum

ans. They never forget a kindness either. That is w

hy friendly humans call the elephant

the gentle giant. Undoubtedly m

assive, yet el-ephants norm

ally behave as gently as kittens.

Elephant infrasound, which hum

ans can not hear, is called rum

bling. Elephant sounds w

hich people can hear include barks and snorts, trum

pets, roars and growls. Trum

peting indicates anger. W

hile a snort exclaims, “G

et off m

y grass!” a roar shouts, “Where are you?”

Elephants

LM1b

and a growl w

arns, “Be careful!” These sounds are for conversation w

hen grazing together. C

learly the advantage of infrasonic rumbling is

that it can be heard five kilometers aw

ay, even w

hen in a forest.

Elephants need a kingdom. They like w

ater in their habitat. In their desire to escape the slaughter of hum

ans, some elephants have

chosen to live in the Nam

ibian desert. They dig for w

ater. Employing tusks and trunk, they dig

wells one m

eter deep in the sand. Since calves can not reach the w

ater, adult relatives fill their trunks and pour w

ater into the baby’s mouth.

After the elephants depart, m

any other animals

Elephants

LM1b

African Elephant

Asi

an e

leph

ants

can

be

dom

estic

ated

. Be

fore

ra

ilway

s the

y w

ere

the

maj

or m

eans

of t

rans

-po

rt.

Indi

a be

cam

e fa

mou

s for

her

can

opie

d tw

o-se

ater

s on

an e

leph

ant’s

bac

k, w

hile

the

driv

er sa

t on

the

head

. N

orm

ally

they

are

the

mac

hine

s in

Asi

an lo

ggin

g. H

uman

s pro

vide

sk

ill, e

leph

ants

labo

r. M

en c

ut th

e tr

ees.

El-

epha

nts h

aul t

hem

. In

add

ition

they

dra

gged

th

e im

men

se ro

cks w

hich

wer

e us

ed in

the

cons

truc

tion

of c

astle

s, fo

rtre

sses

and

tem

ples

. O

ne e

leph

ant e

qual

s fifty

hor

sepo

wer

. Th

ey a

re

pow

erfu

lly b

uilt.

Ele

phan

ts a

re c

leve

r. If

you

ca

n te

ach

it, d

omes

ticat

ed e

leph

ants

can

lear

n it.

Ele

phan

ts

LM1c

If y

ou

can

tea

ch

It!

LM1c

Eage

rly sc

ient

ists

wis

hed

to te

st th

e he

arin

g of

el

epha

nts.

In in

fras

onic

reco

rdin

gs o

f 400

ele

-ph

ant c

alls

, the

hum

an e

ar c

ould

onl

y he

ar 1

00.

In a

noth

er e

xper

imen

t, a

man

five

kilo

met

ers

from

the

wat

er h

ole

play

ed th

e m

atin

g ca

ll of

th

e fe

mal

e el

epha

nt, Z

ita. T

wo

bulls

, Pab

lo a

nd

Han

niba

l, w

ere

drin

king

at t

he w

ater

hol

e an

d pl

ayfu

lly sp

lash

ing

each

oth

er w

hile

a w

oman

vi

deo

tape

d th

em.

Alth

ough

she

coul

d no

t hea

r th

e m

atin

g so

ng w

hen

the

man

pla

yed

it, P

ablo

an

d H

anni

bal d

id.

They

lifte

d th

eir h

eads

and

st

iffen

ed, s

prea

d th

eir e

ars a

nd fr

oze.

Im

med

i-at

ely

both

swun

g of

f in

the

dire

ctio

n of

the

re-

cord

ing

to fi

nd Z

ita. R

umbl

ing

in th

e in

fras

onic

ra

nge,

ele

phan

ts h

ear fi

ve k

ilom

eter

s aw

ay.

Elep

hant

beh

avio

r dem

onst

rate

s tha

t the

y ca

n be

forg

ivin

g. I

n In

dia

a tr

aine

r bea

t Puk

a, h

is

dom

estic

ated

ele

phan

t, fo

r bei

ng o

verly

pla

y-

Elephants

LM1c

Elephants

LM1c

forms the extended fam

ily. When the vegeta-

tion is wonderfully lush, the herd m

ay move

together. Usually how

ever, elephants travel in fam

ily groups of ten to fifteen. They are nucle-ar fam

ilies. Consisting of a grandm

other, a few

sisters, their children and possibly some cous-

ins, one nuclear family is related to all others

in the herd. Seven to ten of these small groups

form one herd. In scientific language these

families are called bond groups. Together the

bond groups form one society.

ful. When the trainer’s baby w

as crawling on

the verandah, Puka grabbed and swung the

child high in the air with his trunk. Puka held

him there. In desperation the trainer patted

and stroked his friend begging, pleading and w

ailing, “Puka please! My love! Puka forgive!”

Slowly and gently, Puka low

ered the infant to the ground. C

rying loudly the toddler shout-ed for another ride. Puka am

bled away. H

e rum

bled, “Hopefully that is the end of that.”

Puka’s behavior demonstrated that an elephant

may not forget but can forgive.

Obviously elephant species are m

amm

als be-cause they m

eet the five conditions which

define mam

mals. They breathe air, are w

arm-

blooded, and have live young which suckle.

All m

amm

als grow hair. W

hile it is hard to see, they do grow

scattered long hairs eight to ten centim

eters apart over their bodies. Some

years ago it became stylish for C

anadian youths to w

ear elephant hair bracelets. Fortunately they are banned because they encouraged the slaughter of the elephant species.

Basically the social group is the herd which

tion.

Upo

n oc

casi

on, t

wo

youn

g br

othe

rs w

ill

coop

erat

e to

driv

e th

e ol

d ch

ief a

way

. W

ande

r-in

g al

one

and

usua

lly b

ad-te

mpe

red,

the

form

er

patr

iarc

h be

com

es a

rogu

e el

epha

nt b

ecau

se h

e ha

s bee

n re

ject

ed b

y hi

s sub

ject

s. S

uch

soci

al

beha

vior

is u

nfor

tuna

te.

Dom

estic

ated

ele

phan

ts o

ften

have

bee

n en

-lis

ted

in h

uman

war

s. In

Indi

a ar

mie

s reg

ular

ly

boas

ted

an e

leph

ant c

aval

ry w

hich

cou

ld b

e em

ploy

ed to

bat

ter d

own

the

gate

s of f

ortr

esse

s. Fr

eque

ntly

fort

s wer

e eq

uipp

ed w

ith lo

ng p

ro-

trud

ing

iron

spik

es to

pre

vent

bat

terin

g. W

hen

the A

fric

an g

ener

al, H

anni

bal,

inva

ded

the

Rom

an E

mpi

re a

bout

2,0

00 y

ears

ago

, the

ver

y si

ght o

f the

ele

phan

ts te

rror

ized

the

Euro

pean

so

ldie

rs.

Mou

nted

on

thei

r sta

tely

bea

sts,

In-

dian

kin

gs e

njoy

ed th

e ex

cite

men

t of t

iger

hun

t-in

g. I

t was

a ro

yal s

port

. Po

ssib

ly e

leph

ants

w

ere

first

dom

estic

ated

for w

arfa

re a

nd h

unt-

ing.

Ele

phan

ts

LM1d

War

fare

an

d H

un

tin

g

LM1d

In a

ppea

ranc

e th

e el

epha

nt is

unu

sual

. H

is

size

is a

wes

ome.

Wei

ghin

g up

to 4

,000

kilo

s, an

ele

phan

t m

oves

with

out m

akin

g a

nois

e.

He

wal

ks a

s qui

etly

as a

mou

se.

Whe

n m

ov-

ing

with

in a

met

er o

f a h

unte

r, an

ele

phan

t w

ill n

ot b

e he

ard.

Did

you

kno

w a

n el

epha

nt

slee

ps st

andi

ng u

p? P

roba

bly

it is

too

muc

h w

ork

getti

ng 4

,000

kilo

s dow

n fo

r the

nig

ht a

nd

up a

gain

in th

e m

orni

ng.

Num

erou

s Afr

ican

co

untr

ies h

ave

adop

ted

the

anim

al a

s a n

atio

n-al

sym

bol,

and

in S

waz

iland

the

quee

n m

othe

r

is called the she-elephant. In appearance, the elephant is the sym

bol of massive m

uscle and m

ajestic might.

Elephant families are m

atriarchal. The nuclear fam

ily or bond group is headed by a matriarch

and consists of females, except for m

ale calves, w

hich stay with their m

others until able to w

ander alone. They are one-parent families.

Norm

ally mothers have help in child-raising

Elephants

LM1d

from fem

ale relatives. Grazing in tw

os but rarely m

ore, males are generally loners. In

many societies m

ales provide protection, but because of their im

mense size, elephants have

few enem

ies. Less protection is necessary. As a

matriarchal society, the oldest fem

ale or grand-m

other will becom

e matriarch of the nuclear

family.

Norm

ally females do the talking w

hile the m

ales listen. Mating calls of fem

ales occur in the infrasonic range. Since it alw

ays takes the sam

e form, it m

ay be called a song. Mating

songs may last for thirty m

inutes. By using in-frasonic rum

blings, family groups keep track of

each other, and mothers, sisters, and baby sit-

ters comm

unicate about the welfare of calves.

Belonging to one herd, family groups talk over

long distances. They coordinate movem

ent. By talking and listening m

atriarchal families,

which m

ay be five kilometers apart, can agree

to meet at the w

atering hole.

Occasionally every society behaves cruelly.

Elephants are no exception. When the dom

i-nant m

ale or king of the herd becomes old, he

is challenged by youths ambitious for his posi-

Elephants

LM1d

whi

ch a

re re

gion

s of m

ixed

tree

s and

gra

ss.

In

th

e Sk

elet

on C

oast

al P

ark

of th

e N

amib

ian

des-

ert,

wat

er h

oles

may

be

seve

nty

kilo

met

ers a

part

. Fe

edin

g gr

ound

s mig

ht b

e si

xty

kilo

met

ers f

rom

w

ater

. A

lthou

gh e

leph

ants

can

go

with

out d

rink-

ing

four

day

s, th

ey m

ust n

ot b

ecom

e lo

st te

m-

pora

rily

or th

ey w

ill d

ehyd

rate

. Ru

mbl

ing

in

infr

asou

nd o

ver l

ong

dist

ance

s ass

ists

fam

ilies

to

find

wat

er a

nd e

ach

othe

r. B

elie

ving

that

thes

e an

imal

s hav

e de

velo

ped

spec

ial s

kills

for s

ur-

viva

l, sc

ient

ists

fear

that

if th

ey b

ecom

e ex

tinct

, no

oth

er e

leph

ants

cou

ld re

popu

late

. Si

nce

they

di

g w

ater

hol

es w

hich

oth

er sp

ecie

s use

, if t

he

form

er d

isap

pear

they

will

take

into

ext

inct

ion

a w

hole

ani

mal

wor

ld.

An

elep

hant

kin

gdom

is in

de

clin

e. W

ill w

e w

itnes

s its

fall?

The

Ske

leto

n C

oast

of N

amib

ia p

rovi

des a

uni

que

habi

tat a

nd

king

dom

for t

he e

leph

ants

of t

he d

eser

t, be

caus

e it

is th

eir l

ast r

efug

e fr

om m

anki

nd.

Ele

phan

ts

LM1e

ElEp

han

ts o

n

thE

skEl

Eto

n c

oas

t

LM1e

Whe

n th

e so

cial

gro

up g

athe

rs to

geth

er, a

dom

i-na

nt m

ale

beco

mes

pat

riarc

h. T

he so

ciet

y is

hi

erar

chic

al.

Lord

s and

ladi

es m

ust b

e re

spec

ted

and

obey

ed b

y yo

uths

. W

hene

ver t

wo

elep

hant

s m

eet,

both

kno

w w

hich

is su

perio

r. G

razi

ng

bond

gro

ups k

eep

rela

tions

hips

frie

ndly

thro

ugh

cons

tant

com

mun

icat

ions

. A

fter t

empo

rary

sepa

-ra

tion,

bon

d gr

oups

gre

et w

ith in

tens

e ex

cite

-m

ent,

rum

blin

g, w

hirli

ng in

circ

les a

nd tr

umpe

t-in

g. S

tran

ger g

roup

s mer

ely

dem

onst

rate

pol

ite-

ness

as i

f one

mur

mur

s, “G

ood

Mor

ning

” an

d th

e ot

her r

eplie

s, “H

ow a

re y

ou?”

The

re is

littl

e m

ore.

Whe

n th

e ch

ief g

row

s old

, he

will

be

chal

-le

nged

by

youn

g m

ales

. Q

uick

ly a

new

kin

g w

ill

take

ove

r lea

ders

hip

of th

e he

rd.

Mat

riarc

hs o

f th

e bo

nd g

roup

s res

embl

e th

e C

anad

ian

prov

in-

cial

pre

mie

rs w

ith c

onsi

dera

ble

pow

er, w

hile

the

king

ele

phan

t is g

over

nor-

gene

ral o

r cer

emon

ial

head

of t

he so

cial

gro

up.

In a

ppea

ranc

e el

epha

nts a

re u

niqu

e w

hen

com

-

pared with other anim

als. The teats are differ-ent. Teats w

hich suckle the young are located betw

een the front legs. Clearly they are unlike

cows and horses, or sheep and goats, w

hich have becom

e domesticated m

amm

als. The tusks are different. W

ho else owns such m

ighty ones? W

eighing up to 350 kilos, the tusks may be used

to strip bark from trees, dig for w

ater or as de-fence against predators. The tragedy is different. U

nfortunately tusks have become the elephant’s

tragedy because humans seek ivory and slaugh-

ter the animals for it. Banning trade in ivory

becomes essential to prevent extinction. W

hile elephants are endangered, they appear uniquely different.

Elephants

LM1e

When elephants expel their old leader, they

behave cruelly. The rogue’s friends have left. H

is teeth are rotting. He eats slow

ly. Around

the game lodges in A

frica, lonely old rogues eat vegetable garbage and visitor handouts. Pulling dow

n trees across the road, one old rogue nam

ed Pickles constantly blocked traf-fic. Pathetically Pickles seem

ed to be crying out, “Look at m

e! I’m still young enough to topple

trees.” Expulsion of old rogues seems to be cruel

behavior.

Elephants must be caught to be dom

esticated. O

ccasionally, covered pits are dug into which

they fall. At other tim

es they are driven by fire, noise or gunshots tow

ard an enclosure which is

constructed strongly of stone. In a third method

trained elephants may be used to attract a w

ild one. W

hile domesticated anim

als keep a wild

one interested, humans can fasten chains on its

legs and tie it to a tree where it is held during the

furious anger which follow

s its capture. Taming

permits hum

ans to train the animal to w

ork for them

.

Elephants in Nam

ibia live in a desert habitat. N

ormally elephants inhabit forests or park lands

Elephants

LM1e

Asian Elephant