Elephants: A Social Creature

                                                                Copyright: ElephantVoices


      As we have learned, elephants roam in large herds and cover vast amounts of land. It is of no surprise then that they come across a wide variety of environmental obstacles. Whether it be an electrical fence put up by farmers or a specific type of vegetation these features offer a unique opportunity to study how elephants learn. 
      Learning is described as an enduring change in the mechanism of behavior, involving specific stimuli or responses, resulting from experience with those or similar stimuli or responses. There are various categories one can choose to look at while studying the capacity to learn in a given species but we will focus on social learning. Elephants are social creatures. When born, the calf is immediately dependent on its mother for survival. They suckle at the mother for milk up to a couple months of age until they are ready to start foraging for food. Young calfs have a tendency to pick up anything that might resemble food and put it into their mouth. Luckily during their suckling phase they were exposed to their peers who serve as a model to show them what is edible and what to avoid. 
      While elephants might venture out and eat on their own at an early age compared to some species, they are relatively slow to mature. The calves are dependent on their mothers until sexual maturity which isn't reached until pre-teen years. Sometimes they aren't weened until age 17 or later, when they finally accept their role as a leader of the heard. This close contact with their mothers provides them with instruction on the process of raising young. This instruction is aided by the chance to watch the mothers raise a younger sibling while the young elephants remain under their supervision. 
      Observational studies have shown that there is a higher success rate for calves born to more experienced, older mothers than those born to younger females. In some cases researchers have seen experienced mothers aid a young mother who is struggling to take care of her calf in order to perserve the life of her calf. 
     An interesting finding indicated that across the same species of elephants, different behavior patterns were observed. Elephants in areas that are subject to hunters show defensive attacks on livestock. This behavior is not present in elephants that occupy areas without a hunter presence. Additionally, elephants that have been introduced to wild herds after being bred in captivity exhibit violent behaviors uncharacteristic of the group until they have time to learn what is "socially acceptable."
      The ability for elephants to learn from their parents and peer groups provides them with a necessary opportunity that contributes to survival. Without proper teaching and example, elephants have been known to exhibit maladaptive behaviors such a violence and aggression. 








Sources:
http://elephant.elehost.com/About_Elephants/Life_Cycles/Adolescent/adolescent.html
http://www.elephantvoices.org/elephant-basics/elephants-learn-from-others.html

Foraging Behavior

Due to the fact that elephants are such amazingly large animals, they require a great deal of food to sustain themselves. Elephants can typically eat 330-375 pounds of vegetation a day. When you think about this in comparison to the amount of food humans typically eat a day (around 4.5-5 pounds), it’s absolutely mind-boggling! It comes as no surprise that elephant must spend the greater portion of their day (around 80%, or 16-18 hours) feeding themselves.

         Elephants are herbivores, meaning that they only eat plant life. They eat everything from leaves, grasses, fruits, small bushes, and many other types of foliage. One of their favorite things to eat is bark, because it is a good source or calcium and aids their bodies in digestion. In addition to the immense amount of food that elephants consume daily, they also need to drink anywhere from 18-26 gallons of water daily. Male elephants have the capacity to drink 55 gallons of water in less than 5 minutes! Again, comparing this amount to how much water humans should drink daily (less than a gallon) definitely puts this amount in perspective. Interestingly, elephants have also been known to tear up soil with their tusks, which they then place in their mouth. This is to obtain minerals and salts that they aren’t obtaining from their herbivore lifestyle.

         As previously discussed in this blog, elephants use their trunks for a wide array of purposes. Feeding is one of the trunks most important functions. The elephant can slough bark of trees using its’ tusk, and then use its trunk to pick the bark or other foliage up and place it in its mouth. Furthermore, elephants use their trunks to suck up water, which they then spray in their mouths. This is part of the reason that elephants have such a great capacity for drinking immense amounts of water so quickly. 

http://www.seaworld.org/animal-info/info-books/elephants/diet.htm

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_many_pounds_of_food_does_the_average_person_eat_each_day

http://www.tenan.vuurwerk.nl/reports/eversdal/grade6.htm

Territorial Behavior


Elephants are NOT territorial. They are nomadic animals that travel in matriarchal, or female-led, societies. Male elephants are usually solitary but in nature they may associate with other adult males, or better known as, bulls, in small groups that constantly gain and lose members. Elephants usually have a home range from 10 to 70 square kilometers, and possibly larger depending on the size of the herd and the season.

The elephant's physiology is designed to support a nomadic life style with an average daily distance covered being 17km. They often have the stereotypical behavior of rocking back and for as a response to lack of movement. It is thought that Elephants are nomadic due to their destructive feeding behavior. They literally push down the environment surrounding them due to their large mass. Elephants knock down trees, daily, to strip bark or reach high leaves. They also kill large areas of grass when grazing.

In some instances, elephants will use their tusks to mark trees to establish territory of their home range.

Male elephants (bulls) associate in small groups that have a hierarchal-ranking structure that is constantly in flux. This meaning leaders constantly change depending on the size, age, and strength, when members leave and enter. They do not seek leadership roles, but rather adapt to the members in the group. However, bulls determine their dominance by sparring which is usually determined by size and strength. Their nomadic social system allows for maximum reproductive possibilities. With this life style, bulls can potentially find up to 30 mates in a year.

Female elephants associate in concentric rings, with the innermost ring comprising of related adult females. This family units can have group sizes from 3 to 25 members. The most dominant female, usually the oldest, is called the matriarch, and usually determines the ranging pattern for the family. In ideal circumstances, families congregate with other families for more protection.

Here is a video of some elephants in Tanzania migrating and acting in their non-territorial but nomadic behavior

http://www.seaworld.org/animal-info/info-books/elephants/behavior.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elephant
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/feb/26/environment
http://www.water-for-elephants.com/en/what-life-for-the-elephants/detention-of-elephants-in-circuses.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjtrwyR5dU4

A Look at Evolution

ELEPHANTS SCIENTIFIC CLASSIFICATION

TAXONOMY

     Kingdom: Animalia
       Phylum: Chordata
         Class: Mammalia
           Order: Proboscidae
             Family: Elephantidae
               Genus: Loxodonta (African) & Elephas (Asian)
                 Species: africana (African) & maximus (Asian)


BACKGROUND


     Fifty to sixty million years ago, ancestors of today's elephants lived in a wide variety of environmental settings that ranged in climate and temperature. During this time, mammals the size of a pig showed preliminary features that would eventually lead to what we see as the defining attributes of elephants. The closest living relatives to elephants today are manatees, dugongs, and hyraxes which all live in very different niches.
     It is estimated that over time there have been close to 350 species of proboscideans but due to natural selection and environmental shifts they have long gone extinct. Proboscidae are thought to be relatively adaptable considering the wide variety of environments they have been found to occupy. Their make-up allows for them to be successful in living in different climates but due to their large size, they lack quick adaptions that allow for survival in times of rapid climate change.

ELEPHANTS TODAY


     The Asian elephant is more closely related to the mammoth and actually originated in Africa. As it spread to parts of Asia where it is found today many subspecies branched off that still live in various countries. Males are mostly tuskless which is a result of selection pressures caused by humans hunting elephants for ivory.

     The African elephant is regarded as the "newest" elephant on the scene. They are larger than the Asian elephant and have notably larger ears. An elephants ears serve as a cooling mechanism. By circulating blood through the ear's membrane body temperature is reduced. African elephants require larger ears since they live in a warmer climate.

     Elephants are able to hear sound waves below our own hearing level which allows them to communicate over long distances on the open plains. This evolutionary adaptation acts as a survival mechanism that protects elephants by allowing them to communicate under the radar of other animals and predators.

Elephants are amazing animals. They are the largest on-land animal, and can weigh up to 24,000 pounds! Typically, elephants can live to be fifty to seventy years old, but the oldest documented elephant lived to be eighty-four. Not only are they fascinating physically and in their abilities, but they also play a large role in many cultures and even religions. There are a few characteristics that are commonly associated with elephants, namely their trunks and tusks. Elephants use their trunks for a variety of purposes, ranging from wiping their eyes to alerting other elephants of danger to smelling, aiding in hearing, and sensing vibrations. Elephant tusks, similarly, have a variety of purposes. Elephants use them for getting to food, clearing a path, and as a form of intimidation. Because the tusks are ivory, a much sought after material, elephants are frequently hunted for their tusks.  The rest of this blog will continue to explore the many fascinating aspects of elephants. Please enjoy. :-)