How do elephants and their companions greet each other? A recent zoological study in Springer Nature's journal Communications Biology said that a study of nine elephants showed that the African elephant (Loxodonta africana) decides how to greet another elephant based on whether it is looking at it or not. The study also found that elephants use different combinations of gestures (e.g., ear tapping) and vocalizations when greeting, which may increase individual recognition and social connection.
African elephants say hello to Doma (male) and Mainos (male). Thomas opened his ears and reached out to touch Manios' mouth. Mainos opens and up his ears (photo via Vesta Eleuteri). Springer Nature/Courtesy photo
According to the paper, previous studies have found that greeting rituals accompanied by vocalizations and body movements are common in elephant herds, but it has been unclear whether these body movements are the postures they deliberately use to communicate, and how they use these movements and vocalizations together when greeting.
African elephants say hello to Doma (male) and Kariba (female). Doma taps her ears while touching Kariba's temporal glands, who open her ears (photo courtesy of Vesta Eleuteri). Springer Nature/Courtesy photo
In this study, co-corresponding authors Vesta Eleuteri and Angela Stoeger of the University of Vienna, Austria, together with collaborators, studied the sounds and body movements of the elephants as they greeted them by observing semi-captive African savannah elephants in the Jafuta Reserve in Zimbabwe from November to December 2021. They observed 89 greeting incidents, including 1,282 greeting behaviors, of which 1,014 were physical movements and 268 were vocalizations.
African elephants say hello to Doma (male) and Kariba (female). Doma stretched out her nose and opened her ears at Kariba. Cariba opens her ears (photo by Riccardo Soriano). Springer Nature/Courtesy photo
The authors found that elephants use specific combinations of vocalizations and movements when greeting, such as a low rumble when flapping or spreading their ears, in addition to other seemingly less deliberate body movements, such as raising and waging their tails. A combination of rumbling and ear slapping is the most common form of greeting, although this is more frequent in females than males. They also found that urination, defecation, and secretions from the temporal gland, a specialized sweat gland, were present in 71% of greeting events, suggesting that smell may play an important role in greetings.
African elephants Doma (male) and Mainos (male) greet each other, rubbing their heads against each other (image via Vesta Eleuteri). Springer Nature/Courtesy photo
The study also found that the way elephants communicate when they say hello depends on whether the person being greeted is looking at them. Elephants are more likely to make visual movements, such as opening their ears, sticking out their trunks, or wiggling their trunks, but are more likely to make vocal movements (such as flapping their ears and tapping their necks) or touching their greeting recipients without being gazed.
The African elephant Dorma (male) and Kariba (female) greet each other, with Doma extending her trunk towards Kariba, who opens her ears (photo courtesy of Vesta Eleuteri). Springer Nature/Courtesy photo
The combined results of this study suggest that elephants use a combination of vocalizations and gestures when greeting the other person, and that they may deliberately change the way they communicate depending on whether the person being greeted is looking at them.
Combined with previous studies, chimpanzees and other apes also use a combination of vocalizations and movements, and change their communication style depending on whether they are being watched or not. The authors conclude that these communication patterns of the animals may have evolved independently in these distantly related species to facilitate social interaction.