Elephant AWARE BEHaVIOUR It is important to respect and understand elephants. Being familiar with elephant behaviour can help avoid possible dangerous interactions. The loss of elephant habitat due to the expansion of human settlement and agriculture is forcing more interactions between humans and elephants.
4 ZONES OF PERSONAL SPACE Observing elephant behaviour THE CRITICAL ZONE
THE WARNING ZONE
THE ALERT ZONE
THE COMFORT ZONE
1. THE COMFORT ZONE - Elephants may be relaxed In this zone, the elephants remain relaxed and may go on with their activities. It is almost as if you are not present. Here, the elephants do not feel threatened. Even if elephants are calm and unaware of your presence, do not approach them. They can be unpredictable if you startle them and can charge at you at any time. Keep a safe distance when chasing off elephants from farms.
Credit: ‘Understanding Elephants’ by The Elephant Specialist Advisory Group, 2017, and Elephant Safety Manuals from Elephant Human Relations Aid
There are four zones of elephant personal safety. Be mindful of what you should do when you find yourself in any of these zones.
Always stop at a distance of 70 to 80 meters from the elephant when you are walking home.
2. THE ALERT ZONE – Elephants may be cautious The elephants are aware of your presence. They may pause and interrogate their surroundings. They may raise their trunks to smell or stop their feeding. It is important you stay calm and quiet and don’t make sudden movements.
Within all these zones, you should remain quiet and stay calm.
Smelling or looking at you.
1.
Slowly walk away in the opposite direction.
Listening.
Touching the face or ear.
3. THE WARNING ZONE – Elephants may display warning signs Here, elephants may be annoyed with your presence. Look out for signs of intimidation from the elephant such as a headshake, standing tall with the head held high, or a mock charge. You should slowly move away from the elephant’s personal space.
Kicking forward, pointed tusks, swinging trunk forward.
4. THE CRITICAL ZONE - Elephants may attack or run away This zone triggers the elephant’s fight or flight response.
Shaking head violently.
Forming protective circle around calves.
INSTANCES WHERE YOU MIGHT ENCOUNTER AN ELEPHANT
Fight The elephant may go in a full charge towards you. Usually the head is kept down, and the trunk is tucked, exposing its tusks ready for attack. If the herd decides to run away, the matriarch may turn towards you to scare you off or even charge to make sure her family is safe.
Running forward in charge, usually silent and no trumpeting.
Elephants approaching your farm, outside of the farm boundary.
Elephants hidden in the bush.
Flight Usually the elephant will turn and run away with tail raised up. The elephant may trumpet while running away. Do not follow or chase the elephant when they are running away- they may suddenly turn back and run towards you!
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Running away, tail up and head up.
At a water points, when taking your livestock to drink.
Elephants breaking into your house to steal maize, or to drink from a water tank.
STAY SAFE AROUND ELEPHANTS
WARNING SIGNALS TO LOOK OUT FOR STANDING TALL
HEAD SHAKING
EAR SLAPPING
“I’ve got you in my sight , so watch it!” Listen for trumpeting and branch breaking. Ear slapping against the side of the body.
Look and smell for fresh dung around you.
Look for broken branches on the ground. Look for tracks of more elephants.
Standing tall, ears spread out and pointing tusks to its opponent. The elephant may appear to increase in height and might stand on an object such as a log or anthill to increase its height. A direct gaze with the chin raised, looking down over the tusks. This is normally a warning toward threats, such as predators and people.
SWINGING TRUNK
If the elephant shakes its head quickly and flaps the ears sharply, it is annoyed. The shake usually starts with the head twisted to one side and is then rapidly rotated from side to side.
MOCK CHARGE
The ears slap against the side of the face or neck making a loud smacking sound. Head jerking and head-tossing are also mild displays of threat.
Check for the wind direction.
The elephant rushes toward the target or predator while spreading its ears to listen to potential threats.
(You can throw dirt in the air to do this)
Try to go downwind.
3.
Elephants also sometimes spread their ears when they are excited, surprised or alarmed.
TRUNK UP
Stay quiet. Turn around and slowly walk back.
Avoid walking without a flashlight at night.
The elephant may face an opponent head-on with ears fully spread, for the purpose of seeming larger and more intimidating.
The elephant may stop short of the target, swinging its trunk forward and kicking up dust.
Exaggerated swinging of the trunk towards its opponent. The elephant may swing and throw its trunk in the direction of its opponent, typically while trumpeting.
A mock charge is often associated with shrill trumpeting. Trunk up, sniffing the air to pick scents of humans, predators and other presence in the area.
Do not show your back to an elephant mock charging. Watch this video showing a mock charge.
THROWING OBJECTS
WHEN TO BE EXTRA CAREFUL
TRUMPETING The elephant may trumpet or blow air to create a popping sound.
The elephant lifts or uproots objects and throws it in the direction of an opponent. An elephant’s aim can be very accurate, even at a distance.
Females with young Females with young are very protective,especially if their calves are young. Take care around family groups and do not get in the way of mothers with calves. When threatened by a predator, adult elephants may form a protective ring around the young elephants.
A REAL CHARGE
TUSKING THE GROUND “look what I will do to you”
This is mostly done by musth males. The elephant may bend or kneel down, tusking the ground and uplifting vegetation as a demonstration of “look what I will do to you”.
Females in the herd can break through fences if their calves have entered farms.
Other signals to watch out for
Do not approach the herd. Give them plenty of space.
Backward and forward swinging of one forefoot. Touching its own face. Holding the trunk in it’s mouth. Causing commotion or making noise to show strength.Tossing it’s head and tusks back and forth through bushes or other vegetation. Tossing it’s head and tusks back and forth through bushes or other vegetation.
4.
The elephant rushes toward its target with its ears pinned back and head lowered.
Do not try to separate calves from their mothers.
Its trunk may be tightly curled under the chest so the tusks can make contact first.
Do not threaten calves or chase behind them.
Real charges are silent- don’t have trumpetting and are extremely dangerous.
Herds giving birth can also be aggressive. You should not disturb the herd.
Do not run in a straight line of sight of the charging elephant. Run left or right.
Watch how female herds protect their calves.
Male elephants in musth
Watch behaviour of male elephants on musth.
This is a period when male elephants have a rise in reproductive hormones.This is characterized by highly aggressive behaviour. When bull elephants are in musth, they are often looking for females to mate with.
Temporal gland secretion -the temporal glands will be secreting an oil fluid and can be swollen
How to recognize bulls in musth?
(It looks like the elephant is crying from his temple)
Moody – the bull will be
An elephant bull can be in musth once a year for 2-3 months at a time. When male elephants are in musth, they can be very aggressive.
moody and can get angry easily.
Smelly – the bull will
be very smelly, you can smell him from far away.
Do not approach or disturb him.
An elephant bull can be in musth once a year for 2-3 months at a time. Bulls can be very moody and unpredictable, knocking over trees and other heavy objects to show their strength.
Hungry – the bull can
Urine dribbling –
look hungry and skinny, because he doesn’t eat much whilst in musth.
the bull will dribble urine while walking away.
Stay calm and quiet if they are close. Move away from his space and use an alternate route to continue your journey.
Point to note: Both males and females may secrete fluids from their temporal glands when excited and stressed out. This alone cannot be used as an indication for a male in musth.
Night time
Accidental meetings with elephants can happen at night time when it is harder to see. When elephants are within community land - avoid walking around at night, avoid alcohol and be extra vigilant. Use torchlight and phones to communicate elephant whereabouts with your neighbours and community.
5.
During the dry season
During the dry season, you are more likely to meet elephants at shared water points. Maintain a safe distance and be aware of elephant behaviour. Check your surrounding for escape routes. If you must approach at the same time, put the water between you and the elephant.
Crops
When crops are maturing, take care as elephants have an extremely powerful sense of smell. They are more likely to raid farm when crops are ripe.
If in a car
ACTIONS TO TAKE Protect and defend
Stay calm
Protect and defend your farm and home using combined deterrent methods such as flashlights, chilli briquettes and other long-term fences. Store your food and water safely away from elephants.
When approaching elephants in a vehicle, respect the elephant’s personal space. Do not get out of the car. Do not overtake, follow closely or push elephants when in the car.
Observe elephant behaviour If possible, stay downwind of elephants so they do not pick your scent. Give elephants the right of way. Pay attention to the elephant’s personal space.
Give elephants the right of way. Be aware of musth bulls and give them extra space.
Throw a backpack,extra shirt, etc. as a decoy when escaping to distract the elephant.
Do not drive between breeding herds or speed past elephants.
Observe the elephant’s behaviour and reaction towards you, before approaching. If an elephant shows threatening behaviour or uneasiness, slowly back away and give space.
When driving, slow down when approaching elephants. Stay calm. Stay alert and be aware of elephant body language.
Do not follow or chase the elephant when they are running awaythey may suddenly turn back and run towards you!
Take care when walking or driving at night in areas where elephants pass through.
Get away as quickly as possible, run in long zig-zag patterns, or find something large to keep between you and the elephant (e.g water source, anthill, boulder, etc).
Caution tips:
Human elephant conflict is the second largest threat to elephants. Elephants are wild animals and they can be very dangerous and unpredictable. Despite heeding the warning signals, sometimes elephants may behave unusually. Always take care and prioritise your safety and keep a safe distance when encountering elephants.
6.
Made in Kenya 2023
Produced by Save the Elephants
Elephants can read your body language too. Don’t panic or be scared. Be quiet and maintain calmness. Don’t make sudden movements or run away. Always try and have an escape route if possible. Climb a strong tree if you can. Elephants can still push over trees if they are angry.
Don’t aggravate elephants Don’t annoy elephants when they are nearby. (particularly in warning and critical zones)
Don’t throw rocks at elephants – this may irritate them more. Don’t throw fire at elephants.
Don’t hide in bushes Elephants can trample over bushes easily. Elephants can run up to 40km/hour. An average human runs at approximately 12 km/hour. Do not provoke an elephant- they can overrun you!
Credits and Disclaimer:
‘Understanding Elephants’ by the The Elephant Specialist Advisory Group, 2017, and Elephant Safety Manuals from Elephant Human Relations Aid (EHRA, Namibia). This document is not extensive. To learn more on elephant behavior and safety around elephants, see References for more resources. Save the Elephants advises caution with all the methods and information collected and presented in this toolbox. Further research may be required before any site-specific implementation. *Save the Elephants is not liable for any costs, damages or injuries incurred by the use of these methods or information.
www.savetheelephants.org
Illustrations by Nicola Heath