Chimp & See Talk

Elephants disliking cameras

  • ksigler by ksigler moderator

    I've seen a few elephant clips that show the elephants smelling the air, then backing away and literally running away from the cameras. Most other camera reactions are curiosity, at most. Of all the animals that were filmed, why does it seem like elephants are the only ones that have this fearful reaction? Is there a history of negative human interactions there, or are they naturally fearful of unfamiliar smells?

    Here, 2 adults and 2 babies are scared back: ACP0002p3f

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  • vittoriaestienne by vittoriaestienne scientist, moderator

    Hi @ksigler!
    Elephants often have strong reactions to cameras. Either they are scared , like here, or very upset about it. Here we're lucky that they didn't completely destroy it (very very very common at other sites)!! 😃 I can't say for sure, but I think they can smell it and don't like it. This doesn't necessarily have something to do with past negative interactions with humans. All species are more or less aware of the cameras, and their reactions can be very different particularly when they are new to their presence in the forest. Hope this partially answer your question. Unfortunately I'm not an elephant expert, but I've been working with camera traps in a site with many many elephants and I can tell you they're are not scared of the cameras!! 😃

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  • ksigler by ksigler moderator

    I see, so after a while they may get used to the camera being there and don't mind it as much. That makes sense. Thank you for your answer! I'm really enjoying learning about all these awesome animals. 😃

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  • DataDroid by DataDroid moderator

    Here's the same group a little earlier. They seem to be "discussing" what to do about the camera: http://talk.chimpandsee.org/#/subjects/ACP0002p30

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  • ksigler by ksigler moderator in response to DataDroid's comment.

    Haha, good find! I've found that changing the last character of the ID can show you other clips in the same sequence. Based on the next few clips, it looks like they got over the initial shock and carried on. Very reassuring. 😃

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