Like all highly social mammals elephants have a well-developed system of communication that makes use of all of their senses - hearing, smell, vision and touch - including an exceptional ability to detect vibrations.

Acoustic communication takes a look at sound production and hearing in elephants; chemical communication explains how elephants use various secretions and their acute sense of smell to communicate; visual communication looks at how elephants make use of postures and displays and their sense of sight in communication; tactile communication describes how elephants make use of their sense of touch to communicate.

At one end of the spectrum elephants communicate by rubbing their bodies against one another, at the other end they may respond by moving toward the sounds of other elephants calling, perhaps 10 kilometers away. They convey information about their physiological (e.g. sexual/hormonal, body condition, identity) and emotional state (e.g. whether they are fearful, playful, joyful, angry, excited) as well as communicating specific "statements" about their intentions or desires. In this section we look at how elephants use the different pathways of communication and the actual mechanics of communicating.

You will in the fully searchable database The Elephant Ethogram: A Library of African Elephant Behavior find close to 300 fully described elephant sounds with spectrograms, together with 2,400 educational video clips showing categorized elephant behaviors and behavior constellations and hundreds of images. The below slideshow take you through a limited number of the over 400 Behaviors and Behavioral Constellations included in The Elephant Ethogram - click on any image to find further documentation.

  • Tusking
    Tusking
  • Kick-Back
    Kick-Back
  • Strip-Bark
    Strip-Bark
  • Group-March
    Group-March
  • Play-Trumpet
    Play-Trumpet
  • Female-Chorus-Rumble
    Female-Chorus-Rumble
  • Alarmed-Trumpet
    Alarmed-Trumpet
  • Grumble-Rumble
    Grumble-Rumble
  • Circus-Pose
    Circus-Pose
  • Climb-Upon
    Climb-Upon
  • Trumpet-Blast
    Trumpet-Blast
  • Open-Mouth
    Open-Mouth
  • Chin-Up
    Chin-Up
  • Coo-Rumble
    Coo-Rumble
  • Estrous-Rumble
    Estrous-Rumble
  • Suckle-Face
    Suckle-Face
  • Listening
    Listening
  • Ear-Lifting
    Ear-Lifting
  • Bow-Neck-Advance-Toward
    Bow-Neck-Advance-Toward
  • Sweep-Off-Dirt
    Sweep-Off-Dirt
  • Trunk-Dragging
    Trunk-Dragging
  • Casual-Stance
    Casual-Stance
  • Dusting
    Dusting
  • Mating-Pandemonium
    Mating-Pandemonium
  • Shepherding
    Shepherding
  • Comment-Rumble
    Comment-Rumble
  • Rumble-Roar
    Rumble-Roar
  • Rumble-Roar-Rumble
    Rumble-Roar-Rumble
  • Head-Waggling
    Head-Waggling
  • Rear-Guard
    Rear-Guard
  • Allo-Check-Tusk
    Allo-Check-Tusk
  • Estrous-Roar
    Estrous-Roar
  • Purposeful-Walk
    Purposeful-Walk
  • Begging-Rumble
    Begging-Rumble
  • Strip-Branch
    Strip-Branch
  • Perpendicular-Walk
    Perpendicular-Walk
  • Solicit-Suckling
    Solicit-Suckling
  • Procession
    Procession
  • Ear-Brush
    Ear-Brush
  • Rest-Head
    Rest-Head
  • Guarding
    Guarding
  • Nasal-Trumpet
    Nasal-Trumpet
  • Head-Dip
    Head-Dip
  • Look-Back
    Look-Back
  • Protest-Trumpet
    Protest-Trumpet
  • Adorn-Body
    Adorn-Body
  • Bite-Trunk
    Bite-Trunk
  • Separated-Rumble
    Separated-Rumble
  • Contemplating
    Contemplating
  • Trunk-To-Genitals
    Trunk-To-Genitals
  • Test-Substrate
    Test-Substrate
  • Trunk-Twisting
    Trunk-Twisting
  • Rumble-Snort-Rumble
    Rumble-Snort-Rumble
  • Snorkel
    Snorkel
  • Musth-Temporal-Gland-Swelling
    Musth-Temporal-Gland-Swelling
  • Bonding-Rumble
    Bonding-Rumble
  • Roar
    Roar
  • Cry-Rumble
    Cry-Rumble
  • Trunk-Sweep
    Trunk-Sweep
  • Roaring-Rumble
    Roaring-Rumble
  • Maintain-Proximity
    Maintain-Proximity
  • Foot-Forward
    Foot-Forward
  • Helping
    Helping
  • Head-Raising
    Head-Raising
  • Social-Trumpet
    Social-Trumpet
  • Musth-Rumble
    Musth-Rumble
  • Drinking
    Drinking
  • Kneel-Down
    Kneel-Down
  • Musth-Walk
    Musth-Walk
  • Mud-Splashing
    Mud-Splashing
  • Kick-Dust
    Kick-Dust
  • Panic-Running
    Panic-Running
  • Flehmen
    Flehmen
  • Head-Toss
    Head-Toss
  • Head-High
    Head-High
  • Social-Rubbing
    Social-Rubbing
  • Solicit-Play
    Solicit-Play
  • Touch-Wound
    Touch-Wound
  • Tracking
    Tracking
  • Urine-Dribbling
    Urine-Dribbling
  • Trunk-Sucking
    Trunk-Sucking
  • Contact-Rumble
    Contact-Rumble
  • Pushing
    Pushing
  • Play-Trumpet
    Play-Trumpet
  • Trunk-To-Infant-At-Breast
    Trunk-To-Infant-At-Breast
  • Standing-Tall
    Standing-Tall
  • Ear-Secretion
    Ear-Secretion
  • Sheltering
    Sheltering
  • Horizontal-Trunk
    Horizontal-Trunk
  • Forward-Trunk-Swing
    Forward-Trunk-Swing
  • Phalanx
    Phalanx
  • Ear-Waving
    Ear-Waving
  • Sparring
    Sparring
  • Trunk-Tuck
    Trunk-Tuck
  • Trunk-Twining
    Trunk-Twining
  • V8-Rumble
    V8-Rumble
  • Head-Dip-Touch-Ground
    Head-Dip-Touch-Ground
  • Trunk-Curl-Squeeze-Rip-Grass
    Trunk-Curl-Squeeze-Rip-Grass
  • Ear-Spreading
    Ear-Spreading
  • J-Trunk
    J-Trunk
  • Little-Greeting
    Little-Greeting
  • Double-Suckling
    Double-Suckling
  • Bend-Down-Bite-Vegetation
    Bend-Down-Bite-Vegetation
  • Tail-Swatting
    Tail-Swatting
  • Head-Shaking
    Head-Shaking
  • Waiting
    Waiting
  • Solicit-Food
    Solicit-Food
  • Bathing
    Bathing
  • Trunk-Bounce
    Trunk-Bounce
  • Sniff-Ground
    Sniff-Ground
  • Tusk-Ground
    Tusk-Ground
  • Tail-Raising
    Tail-Raising
  • Jolt
    Jolt
  • Pulsated-Trumpet
    Pulsated-Trumpet
  • Submerge
    Submerge
  • Silly-Trunk
    Silly-Trunk
  • Resting-Trunk
    Resting-Trunk
  • Cadenced-Rumble
    Cadenced-Rumble
  • Yawn
    Yawn
  • Exaggerated-Walk
    Exaggerated-Walk
  • Legs-Crossed
    Legs-Crossed
  • Rub-Off-Dirt
    Rub-Off-Dirt
  • Trunk-To-Mouth
    Trunk-To-Mouth
  • Attain-Higher-Ground
    Attain-Higher-Ground
  • As-Touched-Rumble
    As-Touched-Rumble
  • Suckle-Stance
    Suckle-Stance
  • Husky-Cry
    Husky-Cry
  • Let's-Go-Rumble
    Let's-Go-Rumble
  • Mud-Wallowing
    Mud-Wallowing
  • Ear-Folding
    Ear-Folding
  • Grasp-Leg
    Grasp-Leg