![]() ![]() On this morning, it’s clear to Debbie that Ambika hasn’t forgiven Swarna yet. ![]() One member of the zoo’s herd, Swarna, recently got into a tiff with Ambika, the 68-year-old “grandmother” of the herd. Just as in human families, though, not all elephants get along all the time. “You’d think they hadn’t seen each other in years!” “They were just together earlier this morning,” says Debbie. Debbie explains that in elephant language this means, “I missed you so much! I’m happy to see you!” Shanthi and Bozie were raised at different zoos and only met a few years ago. Both elephants flap their ears in greeting. As soon as Shanthi appears, she puffs up her face to say hello. One morning in the elephant house, Debbie tells zoo visitors to watch closely when Shanthi and Bozie, two 41-year-old elephants, greet each other. She is a pro at interpreting what they “say.” But she knows the zoo’s six Asian elephants better than most. And even her expert ears can’t pick up rumbles that are too low for people to hear. OK, so she doesn’t have a trunk for trumpeting. ![]() One female may pat another with her trunk: “How’s it going?” A male may twist his trunk around a female’s: “I like you!” Or one elephant may use its trunk to shove another: “Back off! You’re getting on my nerves.” Who needs words when you have a trunk?Īfter 16 years as an elephant keeper at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo in Washington, D.C., Debbie Flinkman speaks “elephant” pretty well. Moms and babies aren’t the only elephants that get “touchy-feely.” Throughout a herd, touching helps create bonds of family and friendship. (Elephants don’t have laps!) That lets Mom know that her baby needs extra attention. Worn out from playing or stressed by an unfamiliar situation, a calf will tuck itself under Mom’s big, sheltering body. When human toddlers feel tired or sad, they may head for the comfort of a parent’s lap. A trickle of urine (pee) or a smear of saliva (spit) can share a lot of information about where an elephant has been and what it’s been doing. Many of those answers can be found in smelly “messages” left behind by other elephants. But the tip of that super-sensitive smeller is always on the move, sniffing out the answers to some important questions: What did my friend eat for breakfast? Who’s been to this watering hole recently? Are there any predators nearby? Watch its trunk! The big body may look still. If you ever wonder what an elephant is paying attention to, don’t watch its eyes. Scientists call this “synchronized (SING-kruh-nized) freezing.” They think it may help the elephants focus all their attention on the sounds and smells around them. All the elephants stand perfectly still, holding their trunks high in the air or draping them on the ground. Faced with a threat, an elephant will flare its ears and stick its tail out straight. A happy elephant will flap both ears and wag its tail. Some elephant “sign language” is easier to translate. But scientists who study elephants have discovered that even when the animals are silent, they are using their bodies to “chat.” For example, that ear twitch may mean “I’m done here-let’s go.” And the head wag may translate as “Let’s play!” Some gestures-a twitch of an ear, a wag of the head-are so small that most people wouldn’t even notice them. The sounds can say anything from “Hey, I’m ready to mate!” to “Look out! There’s a hungry lion nearby.”Īn elephant can also say a lot without making a sound. But elephants can pick up these rumbles from miles away! They use special sensors in their feet to “hear” the distant vibrations through the ground. A person standing nearby may feel the vibrations. In fact, some rumbles are too low for human ears to hear. But an elephant’s huge larynx produces very low sounds. An elephant makes its rumble the same way a person speaks: with its larynx (LAIR-inks, “voice box”). These massive mammals have a vocabulary to match their size: more than 70 different vocal sounds, from barks to snorts to cries.Įlephants make rumbles-deep, vibrating noises-more often than they do any other sound. But that’s not the only way elephants make themselves heard within the herd. You may think you know how elephants communicate: With trunks held high, they blast the air with loud trumpeting sounds. Super-smart and super-social, elephants have a lot to say-and many different ways of saying it. ![]()
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