The social behaviour of elephants is one of the most complicated in the animal kingdom. From the start of their life as a calf to an old adult, an elephant’s life is filled with different social experiences, like us.
The focus of this footage is these two playful elephant boys and a girl.
Like our kids, the young elephants love to play. The boys love to play more than the girls, and they play aggressively too!
Look at these three young gangs, the playful nature of their walk, and their movements. They But their heads, engaging in mock fights and push one another when playing. This playing behaviour is said to occur as a preparatory phase for their adult life. These mock fightings will lay the foundation for real fights they will have with other elephants in future. As bull elephants later, they will engage in deadly fights over mates. Therefore playing is not only a fun activity for them but also a lesson. Playing will help them to learn the mating behaviour and other social behaviours as adults.
Even though elephant boys play until they are well over three years, the females stop their play at a younger age.
For elephants, social interactions are crucial for their survival, and this species demonstrates one of nature’s most advanced social interactions. Proper social behaviour is needed for both males and females to survive. Therefore the interactions during their growth phase lie a solid foundation for the rest of their lives.
The play behaviour shown at the start of this footage is more of a friendly nature. But, it is not always the case. Sometimes, they become more aggressive. For example, some may poke their neighbours with their newly grown tusks or simply give others aggressive cues. This behaviour is less seen in very young calves, while it is common in adolescent males.
The social behaviour of these massive giants is interesting. Therefore, we hope to discuss more about these extrovert creatures in future videos.
