How do bull elephants communicate with their peers?

“Grrrrrr Grrrrrrrr” – People simply hear a deep, long growl, but male elephants understand something like this: “Hey guys, let’s go!” A research team in the US has now documented these go-ahead calls in bull elephants for the first time.

Until now, biologists thought that only female elephants in family groups made these calls. But in recent years, several recordings have been made at a watering hole in Etosha National Park in Namibia where bull elephants in tight-knit groups of males make a very similar roar.

Each bull waits until the previous bull is almost finished.

As the researchers said in the online journal,Bear G“It’s not just the screaming in groups,” he continued. “Many other bulls in the group respond with a similar, very low-frequency roar. Each one waits until their predecessor is almost done with their sequence. According to the study, the whole thing is very ritualistic. Finally, they all take off together and leave the watering hole.”

“We were surprised that male elephants, who normally form only loose social bonds, coordinate their vocalizations so sophisticatedly to enable movement,” explains lead author Caitlin O’Connell Rodwell, who works at Stanford University and Harvard Medical School. Communication between bulls is more complex than previously thought, the scientist explained.

Elephant Communication from 13 Years of Research

O'Connell Rodwell, who has been studying elephants in the wild for 30 years, first recorded this green light in 2004. Between 2005 and 2017, more recordings were collected at the Mushara pit—and these included not only sounds audible to humans, but also very deep sounds in the ultrasonic range.

Older bulls act as mentors.

Researchers believe that male elephants learn this type of communication from older female elephants. “They grow up in a family where all the leaders use these rituals,” says O’Connell-Rodwell. “We think that as they mature and form their own groups, they adapt and use these learned behaviors to coordinate with other males.”

The first call to go is made by the most social bull, who is sometimes also the dominant bull in the group. These animals play an important role in the group because they promote cohesion and stability. They often act as mentors of sorts to the younger bulls, says O’Connell-Rodwell. “The older guys are willing to take them under their wing, mentor them, share resources with them and share in their emotional ups and downs.” (dpa)