What are elephants behavioral characteristics?
Aggressive behaviour Elephants are usually peaceful animals. Females may, however, be aggressive when young calves are present and bulls can be exceptionally aggressive during musth. All elephants may become aggressive when sick, injured or harassed. Elephants may run at the threat in a demonstration or real charge.
How do elephants grow and develop?
Elephants may live to be 70 years of age and continue to grow throughout their lives. Their growth rate slows as they get older, although there is evidence males have a second growth spurt when they are around 20 years old.
Where do elephant tusks grow from?
Elephant tusks evolved from teeth, giving the species an evolutionary advantage. They serve a variety of purposes: digging, lifting objects, gathering food, stripping bark from trees to eat, and defense.
What are some behavioral adaptations of an elephant?
The elephant temperament is typically gentle, and the animals are known as being one of the more intelligent beasts on the planet. Some even demonstrate behaviors that suggest they have long-term memories, that they mourn their dead and that they have complex communication with each other.
What kind of behavior does an elephant have?
Territorial Behavior. Elephants are NOT territorial. They are nomadic animals that travel in matriarchal, or female-led, societies. Male elephants are usually solitary but in nature they may associate with other adult males, or better known as, bulls, in small groups that constantly gain and lose members.
How are elephants in the wild and in captivity?
This unit will provide information about the physical, behavioral and social needs of elephants. Students will explore the behaviors of elephants in the wild including family structure and relationships, home ranges, and diminishing habitat. Students will compare this to the lives of elephants in captivity.
How does an elephant’s social structure change over time?
In fact, that process is one that develops over time. The males on the other hand tend to live a very isolated live except when they are searching for a mate. As the males get older they will start to travel on the outer edges of the heard instead of in the middle where the young usually are at.
What happens to an elephant family when it splits?
An elephant family will split depending on the size of the family, the amount of available food and how well they are getting along. When the matriarch dies, one of the oldest offspring takes her place. Several inter-related elephant family groups may inhabit an area and know each other well.
