Stand-Over-Bush
Standing over a bush in apparent Contemplation. The elephant may gather the branches of a bush into a clump with the trunk before swinging the forelegs out to the side to clamber over the bush. The elephant then stands still but attentive, as if in Contemplation. This is an idiosyncratic behavior observed among a few adolescents and calves in the Maasai Mara population. Most, though not all, of these individuals were female. In one instance we observed one individual to copy another. We do not know whether this behavior is more widespread.
References: Poole & Granli 2021. (Full reference list)
This behavior occurs in the following context(s): Novel & Idiosyncratic