National Geographic: Reflections on Elephants Page #3

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from an eager female

across the plain.

As he draws nearer,

she coyly breaks away.

And the chase is on.

He hunts her down.

She knows she is being hunted,

and with a smaller body weight

She could easily outrun him as

she has lesser suitors this week.

But this time she is willing

and stops

Elephant mating takes

a lot of cooperation.

This coordinates sexual readiness

of both male and female

is quite unique in animals

and for several days

they will stay together.

By soliciting this musth bull,

she has purposely

chosen her mate,

and wins as a prize his dominant

genes for her offspring.

Her calf will be born nearly

two years from now.

Waves of thirsty giants

stampede the water holes.

Anything in the way is

chased off.

But before rushing in,

they stop and test the air.

Each family, under the

leadership of their matriarch,

Maintains long-distance

contact with other groups.

As the groups meet

at the water holes,

they melt together to

become one clan again.

Here they congregate

and reinforce bonds.

Even after short separations,

Greetings are very active

and affectionate.

Screams of tension drive out

non-clan members;

Elephants tend to

avoid strangers.

But the large water holes

attract herds from all around,

Both wanderers and regulars

on this route.

All mass together,

but maintain their discrete

groups around the water hole,

hundreds or sometimes even

thousands at a time.

These gentle animals appear to

want to avoid stressful encounters.

With language skills of at least

twenty-five different concepts,

A complex "stacking" system is

at work at these water holes

When incoming herds signal,

the herd that was drinking

vacates the water.

In all this activity,

the matriarch has arrived.

Over the last two months

the adopted,

Smaller calf seems to have

worked out a way to survive.

The water is still an unfamiliar

experience for both calves.

The adopted calf,

possibly with less

pleasant associations,

is even more reluctant

to venture in,

despite the gentle coaxing.

Others are here for the

water as well.

As hundreds of buffalo

crowd in,

stress rumbles through the elephant

herds like an electric storm.

Boxed in by the huge

herd of buffalo,

the matriarch and her family

are forced to use the

steep side of the bank.

An older calf is

jostled into the water.

With the buffalo still threatening,

a quick rescue is mounted.

Displaying an intelligence of

communication and astounding logic,

The elephants divide their efforts.

Some fend off the buffalo while

others tend to the frantic calf.

Just a gentle stabilizer is needed

and a well-placed trunk does the job.

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