Elephant-astic to see you! The elaborate ways elephants greet their friends, ... trends now
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As humans, we commonly greet each other with a 'hello' combined with a wave, a handshake or even a hug.
Now, it turns out elephants do a similar thing.
Researchers have discovered that African elephants greet each other by combining vocalisations and gestures together, such as rumbles with ear flapping or trumpeting with ear spreading.
A team from the University of Vienna analysed 89 greeting events consisting of 1,282 behaviours – a combination of physical actions and vocalisations – in a herd of semi-captive elephants in Zimbabwe.
Greeting behaviours also included roaring, tail wagging, trunk swinging and approaching the other elephant backwards.
Researchers have discovered that African elephants greet each other by combining vocalisations and gestures together, such as rumbles with ear flapping or trumpeting with ear spreading
A team from the University of Vienna analysed 89 greeting events consisting of 1,282 behaviours – a combination of physical actions and vocalisations – in a herd of semi-captive elephants in Zimbabwe
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The researchers found the combination of rumbling and ear flapping was the most common form of greeting, although this was used more frequently between females than between males.
They also observed that urination, defecation and secretions from a sweat gland unique to elephants were present in 71 per cent of greetings – suggesting that smell may play an
