Chimp & See Talk

Tangeld or desorientated or ill or drunk?

  • luca-chimp by luca-chimp

    Can a tangling really cause such a "silly walk" forth and back and side??
    series: ACP000cb8k ACP000cb8l ACP000cb8n ACP000cb8o

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  • Boleyn by Boleyn moderator

    Elephants often pull out some trees or scrubs to get easy access to the nice edible leaves. In the wilderness (or safari parks) you can often see where elephants have been by the destruction left behind 😃 But looking at the entire series I think s/he might just be clearing the path.

    I'm wondering though why the one coming from the right shortly touches the tail of the "working" elephant. It looks like a greeting or a reassurance that there's no danger closing in from behind.

    I'll drop a line to @NuriaM to clear things up for us. She's an elephant specialist as I understood.

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  • NuriaM by NuriaM scientist, moderator in response to Boleyn's comment.

    Hmmm....@Boleyn, at first I thought she (I think it´s a she) was just scratching herself. Then I thought that she was just barging her way through as you say, but actually if this was the case, she would be working harder with her trunk, tusks and head in general.

    My interpretation is that something bothers her, like she wants to go through but there is something in her way (impossible to know what exactly 😦 ) and she doesn´t really dare... but still she is not very scared; if she was, she would be flapping her ears and her tail would be raised (showing excitement). You would also hear her and/or the others trumpeting and/or rumbling. Look in here: ACP0002o89

    And then, the second and third eles. come and make a "caressing", that is, touch her tail to comfort her, like saying, `it´s ok, we are here, you can go through and we will follow´.

    Sorry I can´t tell you more 😃

    P.S. If you want to know a bit more about elephants in general and specially ele. communication, this is a nice page to look at: http://www.elephantvoices.org/
    and here you can find amazing examples on ele. acoustic communication: http://www.elephantvoices.org/elephant-communication/acoustic-communication.html

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  • Boleyn by Boleyn moderator

    Thanks @NuriaM for your thorough answer. This sounds reasonable to me. The one approaching from behind is a male and thus probably more courageous 😃

    Thanks also for the interesting links. There's a lot to read for elephant lovers!

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  • Snorticus by Snorticus in response to NuriaM's comment.

    That was an interesting description of what's happening, @NuriaM and thank you for the links. These are such cool creatures!

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  • luca-chimp by luca-chimp

    Thnaks from me too. I really was concerned, that it is a kind of illness. I love the reassurance and caresses gestures you describes. One sees the sequences in much other perspectives.

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