Consorting

A (usually musth) male and an estrous female both engaged in maintaining proximity to one another - the male engaged in Guarding behavior and the female engaged in Soliciting-Guarding - are considered to be in Consort with one another.

References: Poole 1982; Moss 1983; Poole & Moss 1989; Poole 1989b; Kahl & Armstrong 2002; Poole & Granli 2003; Poole & Granli 2011. (Full reference list)

This behavioral constellation includes the following behaviors: J-Trunk, Look-Back, Solicit-Guarding, Waiting, Walk-Wait and occurs in the following context(s): Courtship

Consorting

Context: Courtship (1)

A female in estrous is in Consort with a male in musth. The clip begins as the female begins to walk. She takes 6 steps before the Guarding musth male begins Move-Toward her; he is Maintaining-Proximity. She takes 16 steps in total before stopping in the shade of a tree, where she Waits for him. Her family members move to join her. The musth male takes 20 steps and stops within approx. 3 meters of her. They both stand alert and Waiting for someone to make the next move. (Maasai Mara, Kenya)

Consorting

Context: Courtship (2)

The clip starts with the estrous female as the closest elephant in view, she is Walking. The musth males is Moving-Toward her to Maintain-Proximity. She slows down at a tree making sure he is with her - Walk-Wait. She continues walking and he follows her. She stops and he stops. He begins Rubbing on the tree and she Listens to him and Looks-Back. She takes 4 steps and he begins to Move-Toward her again. As she goes out of frame the musth male continues to Maintain-Proximity.

The camera eventually pans out to reveal the estrous female and the musth male. He is about 9 meters behind her. They both participate in staying in close proximity. (Maasai Mara, Kenya)

Consorting

Context: Courtship (3)

An estrous female and a musth male stand in parallel. They are in Consort. The estrous female is idly feeding, staying close to him; the musth male is alert, monitoring her movements. Her tail is slightly raised. She takes 5 steps and pauses, Walk-Wait, Foot-Forward, monitoring his location. He Orients-Toward her, Monitoring her movement. She takes another 6 steps and he begins to Move-Toward her, Maintaining-Proximity, Guarding her. (Maasai Mara, Kenya)