When a male reaches sexual maturity the matriarch will chase him from the herd and he will either lead a solitary life or join a bachelor herd made up of young and old individuals. Males are seen in the breeding herd when there is a female on heat or when paths cross (at waterholes for example).

Considered one of the most intelligent animals on earth, this African Icon brings out many emotions in people. Stories of their long, elephant memory and beliefs that elephants mourn their dead fuel their legendary and mystical status.

Communication

Elephants communicate in various ways. The low rumble that was once thought to be a mere stomach rumble was overlooked as a form of communication. The 'rumble' is a form of communication used between individuals of a herd, enabling them to stay close together.

Elephants are able to communicate ultra-sonically over large distances. This allows herds to detect the presence of others in the area. It is said that herds communicate stress to others, thereby affecting the behaviour of other herds. This is pertinent during a cull where the herd being culled is under tremendous stress.

Musth

Musth is is a secretion from the temporal gland of male elephants and is associated with an increase in aggressive behaviour. There is no suitable explanation as to the reason for musth and many biologists choose to ignore it as unimportant.

Aggression

An elephant will react in an aggressive way to perceived danger. It may ‘mock charge’ with ears flapping and trunk flailing before stopping, shaking its head and trumpeting at the perceived danger. If this does not work then an elephant will either back off, or the charge will become serious - ears back, trunk down and silent! The majority of charges are mock charges, used to to warn off intrusions.

Teeth

Elephants have six sets of teeth in their lifetime. Teeth are pushed from the back toward the front as the front ones wear out. When the last set wears out the animal will have to eat softer food until it finally dies of starvation. Old animals will move close to, water where there is softer food, until they eventually die.

Of tusks and ears

The tusks of elephants are elongated incisors that are used for a variety of tasks such as digging and ripping bark from trees. One tusk is usually more worn than the other and it said that elephants, as humans, are either right handed or left handed. (This can be determined by whichever tusk is the most worn, hence the most used.)

Both male and female elephants carry tusks although in some areas in Africa the females tusks are less visible such as in Addo National park in South Africa.

The African elephant's large ears are used as a body temperature control mechanism. There is a large network of veins in the ears and by flapping the ears the blood passing through the ears is cooled. The ears are also used in warning signals.

Light-footed heavyweights

Despite their size elephants tread very lightly when they are walking. A whole heard can pass close by without a sound. The reason for this is that they have a thick padding on the soles of their feet which enables them to be almost silent when they walk. The padding helps in cushioning the weight of the animal. Elephant will also drag their trunks on the ground as they walk, a behaviour which still has no proper explanation

Elephant Graveyards

A great deal has been written about elephant graveyards (the notion that elephants move to a particular area to die). The source of this myth most likely comes from the fact that when elephants get old they do not move far from a water source, eventually dying there. As more and more old elephants died at these waterholes, bones began to pile up - hence the misinterpretation by the first explorers and conservationists.

There is much debate as to the lifespan of elephants. The oldest known elephant in captivity lived in a European zoo and reached the old age of eighty years. In the wild, elephants seldom reach fifty as their teeth wear out, after which starvation follows.