![]() ![]() 97 defined behaviours were recorded, performed by the initiator or as responses. The implication of these results for a different understanding of elephant’s social organization and mental aptitudes are discussed.Ģ140 interactions were recorded in 213 hours of observation (1278 elephant hours) in a group of 6 individually identifiable free ranging orphan elephants between 10 and 19 years old on a nature reserve in Zimbabwe. To interpret the meaning of messages in this way, elephants must be aware of others intentions and desires, as well as others’ knowledge and roles in the society. the same behaviour used in a variety of contexts with its particular meaning only assessable from the context). Many behaviours ‘meanings were context dependent (i.e. It is argued that the large number of implicit behaviours which indicate slight arousal also indicate “uncertainty”. Rather it indicated that behaviour encouraging group cohesion (showing interest and affiliation) was much more common than any related to competition in the group (that is aggression, avoiding and withdrawing). Correlations between the rank orders in the 4 different behavioural categories (aggression, affiliation, avoidance and interest) did not indicate an overall “dominance order”. Two surprising results were that (i) many behaviours were ignored by the recipients, and (ii) reciprocity was common. The meaning of the 22 most common behaviours was assessed from recipient responses. 97 different behaviours, some explicit (whose meaning is clear) and some implicit (whose meaning is hidden), were recorded. The communication between 6 individually identified free ranging young elephants were observed for over 200 hours (1278 elephant hours) in a nature reserve in Zimbabwe. ![]()
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