Allo-Trunk-Sucking

An elephant grasping the trunk of another elephant, placing it in his or her mouth and sucking on it. A rare and possibly idiosyncratic behavior filmed on one occasion by an adolescent female toward her younger male sibling.

References: Poole & Granli 2021. (Full reference list)

This behavior occurs in the following context(s): Affiliative, Calf Reassurance & Protection, Novel & Idiosyncratic

Allo-Trunk-Sucking

Context: Calf Reassurance & Protection (1)

In a fascinating sequence - Provocadora's 7-8 year old female offspring has just engaged in Trunk-Sucking and extracted something from her mouth with which she then played with. She Trunk-Sucks again and then does a Trunk-to-Genitals to her 1.5 year old brother. Then, as this clip begins, she follows him and takes his trunk gently in her trunk, brings it to her mouth and sucks on it. The little boy pulls it out but get a Penis-Erection. She follows up by putting his trunk in her mouth another two times before we lose sight of them (and appears to Trunk-Suck on her own trunk again, too, though it is difficult to see!) She is very gentle. (Gorongosa, Mozambique)