When we think of safaris, one of the first animals that come to mind roaming around is an elephant. Their enormous stature and family-oriented nature makes these majestic animals so unique and special. They’re well known for their social nature, intelligence and their friendliness towards humans.
For thousands of years, people have been aware of elephants extraordinary memory and intelligence with modern science confirming many of these stories. In fact, according to scientists, elephants are even smarter than we thought!
Very family oriented
Elephants are socially complex and have an intricate relationship with other members of their herd
According to an article on Elephant Voices website:
“Elephants are well-known for their intelligence, close family ties and social complexity, and they remember for years other individuals and places. They live in a fluid fission-fusion society with relationships radiating out from the mother-offspring bond through families, bond groups, clans, independent males and beyond to strangers.”
Just like us, elephants have individual personalities that they develop with time. Their personality determines how they interact with other animals and also decides their position within the herd hierarchy. Some elephants are more solitary while others are more social and friendly.
Matriarchs serve as leaders of elephant families
A typical elephant family is led by a matriarch, usually the oldest and largest female in the family. Strong social bonds exist between elephants who often roam the wilderness together, to find food and protect each other from predators. A typical elephant family consists of one or more related adult females and their offspring.
Elephant families are all about teamwork. Not only do elephants cooperate in order to defend themselves and find food, but also for decision making and raising their little ones.
Looking after others
These magnificent animals take great care of their offspring and have a special greeting for each other!
The wilderness can often be a harsh place and even though elephants don’t have predators it’s not uncommon for newborns to be exposed to attacks by predators such as lions and tigers. Moreover, the worldwide elephant population has declined significantly over the course of the last century, due to the ivory trade. Today, habitat destruction poses the biggest threat to elephant populations.
Despite all this, some populations are growing and there are many organizations dedicated to protecting elephants in Africa and Asia.
A new addition
Dok Geaw, a new rescued baby elephant received a special greeting by the whole herd!
The video showing the whole herd running to greet a rescued baby elephant garnered almost 13 million views on YouTube. Filmed at Elephant Nature Park, the video shows 1 year and 9 months old elephant being welcome into his new family! Dok Geaw was orphaned as a baby but finally found a new and loving family that would take care of him.
It’s one more proof of how deeply elephants care about family and the strong social bonds that exist between them. Even though Dok Geaw was adopted, it looks like he will become a full-fledged member of the herd.
Excellent communication skills
They can hear each other even when they’re miles apart
If he ever strays away from the herd of gets lost, his family will come to his rescue in no time, as elephants have a sophisticated means of communicating with each other.
“Some of the calls used by elephants are powerful low frequency vocalizations that carry over long distances. Elephant can recognize the voices of hundreds of other elephants from up to 2 kilometers away.”
Watch the video below and see the kind of greeting Dok Geaw received from his new family! It’s beautiful.
