head high, and reaches his trunk up to touch his temporal gland. Using his trunk like a paintbrush, he can spread the scent on any vegetation he
touches.
Marking: A musth male can also mark vegetation in his area by rubbing his temporal gland on it, smearing it with mouth mucus, or visually scarring it with his tusks.
Musth walk: Even across a large, grassy exhibit, you can tell when a male elephant is in musth by watching him walk. First notice how a nonmusth male walks: his head, held at shoulder level or below, is thrust slightly forward; his ears are laid back; and his gait is relaxed. By contrast, a musth male will raise his head high above his shoulders and tuck his chin in. His ears are rigidly spread high and wide, and he walks with a controlled swing of his head and tusks.
Head swinging: In the wild, researchers have noticed standing musth males swinging their heads in a powerful figure-eight motion, sometimes lifting a leg to keep balanced. This normal response is similar to the abnormal, stereotypic head-swaying behavior that some captive elephants exhibit. To verify that what you’re seeing is musth, look for the other indicators.
Tusking: Frustrated musth elephants use their tusks to take out their aggression on inanimate objects, especially during a fight.
to her vulva, presumably tasting and smelling the bouquet of hormones that will tell him about her sexual state. If she is ready to mate, he may begin courtship by briefly chasing her or butting her rump with his tusks. Eventually, she holds still while he lays his head, tusks, and trunk along her back, grasping and caressing her. As she turns to face him, they may entwine their trunks together for a while.
Eventually, after a little more nudging, the female presents her hindquarters to the male, and they mate. A sexual encounter may also begin in the female’s court when she backs up to a musth male and rubs her hindquarters against him to solicit attention.
COURTSHIP. To find out whether a female is ready to mate, the male touches and sniffs her genitals with the tip of his trunk. If she is in heat, he pursues her and nudges her rump with his tusks. Just before copulating, the male lays his head along the female’s back, grasping and caressing her with his trunk.
COPULATION It’s amazing (and a little worrisome) to see a 12,000-pound elephant rear up and lean his front legs on a 6,100-pound female. The family seems to love it, however, and they get in the act with the mating pandemonium described under Friendly Behavior. Mercifully, copulation lasts a short 2 minutes. Afterward, the pair separates to browse casually, sometimes mating again after 10 or 20 minutes.
PARENTING BEHAVIOR
BIRTH Before giving birth, the mother-to-be and another female usually move away from the group and prepare a soft birth spot by loosening the soil with their forefeet. The calf drops head first into this soft spot, falling from the birth canal of its squatting mother. As it drops, the umbilical cord snaps, it takes a startled first breath, and the mother whirls around to begin caring for her infant.
CARING FOR THE CALF Even at a whopping 260 pounds, a new elephant calf looks tiny and fragile beneath the grand bulk of its mother. The mother usually helps the doll-like form to its feet by gently putting her foot under it and then lifting, steadying it with her trunk. It takes only a few seconds to see how devoted the new mother is. She instinctively hems her calf in toward her, tucking it under her chin and fondling it with her trunk.
For the first 6 months, the mother follows her calf everywhere, never letting it out of her sight. After that, the calf follows the mother, and the two stay in contact with a continual volley of contact calls and, probably, scent cues. The calf will have its mother all to itself for at least 4 years before the female gives birth again and begins to wean the older one.
TEACHING Even after weaning, however, the calf stays on and spends the next 8 to 10 years learning and developing. It watches its mother carefully, even placing its trunk in her mouth, perhaps to see what kinds of plants she eats.
There is much to learn about surviving in their range: the location of good water
sources, mud wallows, shade trees, and migration routes, as well as how to harvest the tastiest food.
NURSING AND TRUNK WRESTLING. A young calf uses its mouth, not its trunk, to noisily nurse. In the background, two young bulls vie for their place in the dominance hierarchy.
COMMUNAL CARE Calves in an elephant family are also fortunate to have helpers—immature females that help the mother look after, teach, and protect the calf from predators and physical hazards such as heat and cold. This allomothering is a favor that is returned again and again, thus building long-term
relationships and enhancing the stability of the group. By the time an allomother has her own young, any female calf that she took care of will be 5 to 10 years old—old enough to return the favor.
It’s not just allomothers that are solicitous of calves, however. If a calf gives the slightest indication of distress, all members of the group gather around to investigate. This communal defense is one of the distinct advantages of a social lifestyle. An entire group is much more of a deterrent to lions, hyenas, and other predators than one mother elephant on her own would be. This system probably evolved not only to outwit these predators, but also to stave off the attacks of early humans.