Elephant conservation news 20 February -26 February 2010
Elephants are able to communicate in a secret language which is mostly inaudible to humans, according to the latest research.
While the trumpeting calls that elephants make are their trademark 'voice' as far as human ears are concerned, their newly-discovered 'growls' are, for the most part, below the threshold of our hearing.
Scientists at San Diego Zoo made the discovery that the animals were 'speaking' to each other by attaching collars fitted with microphones to eight female African elephants - who, unlike males, live in herds. The so-called infrasonic calls were picked up by researchers, who could also use GPS to monitor how the animals were interacting with each other in the 1,800 acre safari park - giving some insight into what the communication could imply.
While it was previously believed that audible calls were used by females to attract mates across a long distance, the research has now shown that low-frequency growls are used to communicate with elephants closer to home. They can also be used to establish hierarchy and organise behaviour at pivotal moments in the herd's life.
Project leader Matt Anderson said that the females' behaviour particularly changes as they approach labour - something that the herd has experienced in the last few weeks, with the birth of a baby elephant on Valentine's Day.
Apparently, the other females respond to this call and form a protective ring around the mother, to guard against the calf falling victim to a predator.
"Researchers have always thought that elephants were able to exchange a few simple words, but by looking at the structure of these rumbles we're now finding that their vocabulary is actually much larger and more complex than people previously realised," Dr Anderson told The Independent.
Tanzania ivory sale faces more opposition
Tanzania reportedly faces further obstacles to its plans to offload stockpiled ivory, via a new tourism law that could limit the activities of East African nations.
The embattled country, which along with Zambia has aroused the ire of many of its east African neighbours over the potential ivory sale, would potentially be subject to the Tourism and Wildlife Management Bill of the East African Community.
While the bill has passed into law, it still awaits assent from the five partner states. If this is forthcoming, it would see the creation of a commission that would be "responsible for the supervision, management and coordination of the tourism and wildlife industries" of the region, according to The East African.
The website reports that topping the putative commission's agenda would be a review of "Tanzania's reluctance to call off the sale".
The proposals have aroused anger from conservation group Born Free, which called for the UK to lead EU opposition ahead of a major international conference next month that will discuss the issue.
Elderly temple elephant dies
An elderly temple elephant billed as "a favourite of elephant lovers" has died in India at the age of 72.
The Press Trust of India reports that Ramachandra had unfortunately "been keeping indifferent health for the last few years", and had been retired from duties at the Guruvayur Sree Krishna temple a decade ago.
The popular pachyderm was apparently donated to the temple by the royal house of Zamorins of Malabar in 1942, and in his later years fed on a diet of milk porridge, medicated rice and vitamin pills.
