Play-Trunk-Twining

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Tailess male calf and his mother are walking along together. The mother is feeding on a branch and drops a bit from her mouth. Her tailless calf pauses to pick it up and eats it. It is likely that this was not an intentional act of Food-Sharing, though it is not possible to know. (Maasai Mara, Kenya) The behavior illustrated in this video is Food-Sharing: An individual sharing food with another or others. For example: a male (typically in musth) sharing a tree he has felled with others (usually females and calves); an individual purposefully dropping food, offering food, or putting food into the mouth of another individual who is begging vocally or gesturally (see Solicit-Food) or to one who is incapacitated (e.g. missing most of trunk due to snaring), sick, dying or dead (for the latter see Body-Feeding). To learn more about elephant behavior visit The Elephant Ethogram: www.elephantvoices.org/elephant-ethogram or click the link in our bio. #theelephantethogram #elephantvoices #conservation

We are continuing to fight against the trophy hunting in Tanzania of the cross border Amboseli-West Kilimanjaro elephant population. Gradually, the issue is gaining more media attention and we would like to share this excellent article by Malavika Vyawahare of @mongabay, who has been able to capture some of the points missed by other journalists. Vyawahare points out that the claim by hunters and many conservationists that trophy hunting is sustainable as long as populations are “healthy” overlooks the importance of individuals in communities formed by highly social animals like elephants. Poole said bulls older than 35 years are “keystones” for male society. “Just like in humans, you can’t just take out a leader in the society and think it doesn’t have repercussions,” Poole said. And Vyawahare raises a concept that may seem other worldly, but is gaining traction as scientific advances and the use of AI allows us to understand the cognitive abilities and communication of other species: that we should take into consideration their perspectives too. “It seems so wrong to me that animals that move back and forth, freely across a border, should belong to anybody except themselves. These are autonomous, conscious, self-aware animals who have names for one another.” - Dr Joyce Poole The killing of Amboseli tuskers spotlights more than one company’s practices; it shows the limits of the human endeavor to subjugate the wild world to human-made laws. You can read the full article via the link in our bio.

Pascal engages in a display of Exaggerated-Splash-with-Foot: In a visual and audible display of power, using the forefeet in a vigourous and exaggerated swinging motion to splash water and mud onto the underside of the body. This behaviour is typically part of a musth display and associated with Musth-Rumbling and Ear-Waving. Elephant ID: @amboseli_trust To learn more about elephant behavior visit The Elephant Ethogram: www.elephantvoices.org/elephant-ethogram or click the link in our bio. (Footage recorded in 2020)

#ThrowbackThursday - Amboseli was a favourite destination for Joyce’s family when growing up in Kenya in the 1960s. On school holidays her family drove from Nairobi and camped there under the shade of the yellow fever trees. Pictured here is her brother, Bob, (@bobpoolefilms) and Joyce with the famous elephant, Odinga, in the background. This photograph was taken in about 1967 at the so-called

What is your favorite thing about Amboseli? Comment below! Ours is of course, the elephants. 🐘

Our commitment to protecting elephants is inspired by our love and respect for them, both as individuals and as a species. This dedication is rooted in our understanding of them, gained through long-term study. To protect their lives and preserve the beauty of their habitats, we must inspire others to feel the same. For this reason, education and the sharing of knowledge are important aspects of all that we do. 🐘 You can learn more about elephants on our website www.elephantvoices.org or click the link in our bio. #theelephantethogram #elephantvoices #conservation #elephants

Several families are competing over access to a mud-wallow. A one-tusked female on the left rushes at a female on the right Ear-Folding and Ear-Slapping. There is Trumpeting in response to the aggression, but it is not clear by whom. In the background an adult female Tusks a juvenile who Roars. The one-tusked female continues Ear-Folding and comes around the end of the mud-wallow and Runs-After the female Ear-Folding and Ear-Slapping who Runs-Away. A female bystander Head-Shakes in annoyance and there is deep Rumbling. Once we are able to catch up with them she is following at a Walk with an Open-Mouth still Ear-Folding and Ear-Slapping. The fleeing female Defecates. (Amboseli, Kenya) The behavior illustrated in this video is Run-After: Moving at a fast amble, or ‘run’ after another elephant. Elephants may Run-After one another in Aggressive, Social Play and Courtship contexts. The appearance of head, ears and tails differ in the different contexts. In an Aggressive context all age/sex groups except infants may be observed to Run-After; in a Social Play context all age/sex groups, though typically younger individuals and more often male may be observed to Run-After; in a Courtship context an adult male may Run-After an estrous female. To learn more about elephant behavior visit The Elephant Ethogram: www.elephantvoices.org/elephant-ethogram or click the link in our bio. #theelephantethogram #elephantvoices #conservation

Together with the @amboseli_trust and the @centerforbiodiv, we have filled a petition to the @usinterior and the @usfws seeking a permanent rule banning U.S. trophy imports from the Amboseli-West Kilimanjaro elephant population. For 30 years, this longest-studied elephant population was safe from trophy hunters. But, over the past nine months, five mature males from the population have been killed by trophy hunters in Northern Tanzania. Among these, one elephant was killed by a U.S. trophy hunter from Texas, and it is likely that other U.S. hunters have been involved. The U.S. is the largest global importer of elephant trophies from Tanzania. Shutting down the U.S. market for this population could significantly contribute to protecting these long-studied elephants from trophy hunters. “These magnificent prime breeding males hold immense sustainable biological, economic and cultural value while alive, but their contribution to both human and elephant societies ends once they’re killed. As the largest importer of elephant trophies from Tanzania, the U.S. could greatly help protect these elephants by preventing the importation of tusks from this unique population.” - Dr Joyce Poole For more information, please read the full petition via the link in our bio. #stoptrophyhunting #endtrophyhunting #amboselielephants #elephantvoices

Sparring may be initiated by a bout of Trunk-Twining, a gentle contact form of play where two elephants twist their trunks together in a spiral (Lee 1987). It may be interrupted by a pause in which one individual runs after another with the head, ears, and tail raised.