In family behavior elephants are remarkably cooperative. When one is sick, the others bring her berries, leaves and branches to eat. They will try to raise the sick one back to her feet. Undoubtedly, protecting the young arouses the strongest emotion within the matriarchal fami- ly, because the scream of a calf will create a rush of relatives to the rescue. Rumbling in infra- sound, one female will call more distant rela- tives to help. Such rumbling is the strongest of all infrasonic calls. By their helpful behavior, elephants demonstrate close kinship ties. Elephants LM1a ELEPHANTS LM1a There are two elephant species. While one variety lives in Africa, the other inhabits Asia. Considerably larger and more aggressive, both males and females of the African type have tusks. In Asia the species is smaller and fe- males have no tusks. Carrying out heavy labor in many countries, most Asian elephants have been domesticated. Consequently, circus and zoo elephants are inevitably from Asia. Since African elephants refuse to be tamed, they will not work for man. Surprisingly, the two ele- phant species are entirely different. In appearance an elephant—and especially its trunk—is impressive. Surely it is the largest and most useful nose in the world. Two fingers
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E LM1a El - iew.com · Undoubtedly massive, yet el-ephants normally behave as gently as kittens. Elephant infrasound, which humans can not hear, is called rumbling. Elephant sounds
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Transcript
In fa
mily
beh
avio
r ele
phan
ts a
re re
mar
kabl
y co
oper
ativ
e. W
hen
one
is si
ck, t
he o
ther
s brin
g he
r ber
ries,
leav
es a
nd b
ranc
hes t
o ea
t. T
hey
will
try
to ra
ise
the
sick
one
bac
k to
her
feet
. U
ndou
bted
ly, p
rote
ctin
g th
e yo
ung
arou
ses t
he
stro
nges
t em
otio
n w
ithin
the
mat
riarc
hal f
ami-
ly, b
ecau
se th
e sc
ream
of a
cal
f will
cre
ate
a ru
sh
of re
lativ
es to
the
resc
ue.
Rum
blin
g in
infr
a-so
und,
one
fem
ale
will
cal
l mor
e di
stan
t rel
a-tiv
es to
hel
p. S
uch
rum
blin
g is
the
stro
nges
t of
all i
nfra
soni
c ca
lls.
By th
eir h
elpf
ul b
ehav
ior,
elep
hant
s dem
onst
rate
clo
se k
insh
ip ti
es.
Ele
phan
ts
LM1a
ElEp
han
ts
LM1a
Ther
e ar
e tw
o el
epha
nt sp
ecie
s. W
hile
one
va
riety
live
s in
Afr
ica,
the
othe
r inh
abits
Asi
a.
Con
side
rabl
y la
rger
and
mor
e ag
gres
sive
, bot
h m
ales
and
fem
ales
of t
he A
fric
an ty
pe h
ave
tusk
s. In
Asi
a th
e sp
ecie
s is s
mal
ler a
nd fe
-m
ales
hav
e no
tusk
s. C
arry
ing
out h
eavy
labo
r in
man
y co
untr
ies,
mos
t Asi
an e
leph
ants
hav
e be
en d
omes
ticat
ed.
Con
sequ
ently
, circ
us a
nd
zoo
elep
hant
s are
inev
itabl
y fr
om A
sia.
Sin
ce
Afr
ican
ele
phan
ts re
fuse
to b
e ta
med
, the
y w
ill
not w
ork
for m
an.
Surp
risin
gly,
the
two
ele-
phan
t spe
cies
are
ent
irely
diff
eren
t.
In a
ppea
ranc
e an
ele
phan
t—an
d es
peci
ally
its
trun
k—is
impr
essi
ve.
Sure
ly it
is th
e la
rges
t an
d m
ost u
sefu
l nos
e in
the
wor
ld.
Two
finge
rs
at the end of it can pick up peanuts, crack the shells, and pop nuts into the m
outh. In addi-tion, an elephant can fill the trunk w
ith water
and give himself a show
er. Showering the ba-
bies becomes a regular duty of the m
other. The lengthy and pow
erful trunk is what you first
notice about the appearance of the elephant.
Before 1988 people did not know that elephants
could hear two octaves below
humans and
therefore could comm
unicate in infrasound.Infrasound refers to sounds of low
frequency, too low
for the human ear. N
ormally, hum
ans can hear sounds in a range of ten octaves.
Elephants
LM1a
Above that—
higher frequency—is called ultra-
sound. Dolphins can hear four octaves above
what hum
ans can hear. Consequently, they
hear in the ultrasonic range, which is a higher
frequency. Over the last few
years people have designed m
achines to record and reproduce ul-tra- and infrasound so hum
ans can hear them.
Peculiar behavior suggested that elephants could hear w
hat humans could not. Strangely
a herd might engage in sim
ultaneous and sud-den, silent, and synchronized activities. From
five m
iles away related fam
ilies could arrive w
ithin minutes of each other at a w
atering hole. Suddenly a herd w
ould take flight when
a human ear had heard nothing. Since one
hundred animals m
ight suddenly stop, spread their ears, and freeze in their tracks for as long as a m