Casual-Stance

Standing or Walking with the trunk draped over a tusk in a relaxed and “casual” manner. Predominantly a posture adopted by musth males as approaching a group females or while in their presence and moving through the group. Also observed by adult males and females in Attentive and Contemplative contexts.

References: Moss 1988; Moss, 1992 [Casual-Walk] Poole & Granli 2003; Poole & Granli 2011. (Full reference list)

This behavior occurs in the following context(s): Advertisement & Attraction, Attentive

Casual-Stance

Context: Attentive (1)

Mabenzi matriarch, Provocadora, gf0012, is aware of us and has already adopted a Stand-Tall. As the clip begins she is considering us. She does a bit of Displacement-Feeding and then raises her head again. She moves her trunk into a Periscope-Trunk posture but then continues to Displacement-Grooming and then adopts a Casual-Stance.

All the while she is paying attention, contemplating her next move. Then she turns sharply to the left (from our perspective) and takes a few steps in a Perpendicular-Walk and stops Foot-Lifting. She is standing perpendicular or opposite to the others now. She stands Foot-Lifting in a Casual-Stance for some time and then as the clip ends she takes a very purposeful step toward us and immediately the others move with her in a Group-Advance. The Casual-Stance and the Foot-Lifting seemed to be part of her decision-making process as she contemplated what to do next. (Gorongosa, Mozambique)

Casual-Stance

Context: Attentive (2)

This young male has just Charged wildebeest, and then stands in contemplation, Eye-Blinking, Ears-Stiff and sniffing in a Casual-Stance. You can see animals running in the background. Then he gets an erection and goes over to some rocks and dislodges one making a loud noise and then digs a bit. It is not clear what this is all about. It is possible that he is coming into musth, but he seems rather young. (Maasai Mara, Kenya)

Casual-Stance

Context: Attentive (3)

A medium sized male adopts a Casual-Stance and an Exaggerated-Walk. He gives an Ear-Flap-Slide and then as he walks toward the filmmakers his ears are stiff (Ears-Stiff) and he is is sniffing in a surreptitious manner. (Maasai Mara, Kenya)

Casual-Stance

Context: Attentive (4)

Pascal in musth adopts a Casual-Stance as he walks toward us. (Amboseli, Kenya)