Say it ain't so, Dumbo. Elephants rely on their trunks and not those big ol' ears to find their way to food and likely to solve other puzzles, report scientists. (See: "Elephants at Risk.")
Elephants are renowned for their acute senses of hearing and smell, both of which play central roles in their everyday life. But until now, it was not known how important these senses were for basic, everyday tasks. (See: "Elephant Photo Gallery.")
Researchers from the University of St Andrews have found that African elephants seem to have an instinctive understanding of what it means when a human points to something.
Commenting on this new research, Rachel Melling, an animal keeper from Knowsley Safari Park said African elephants were "highly intelligent".
If you try to stand beside an elephant you might feel a gush of wind or perhaps a vibration on the chest area. Are you scared? Yes, you have every reason to be, but it’s not the thudding on the chest brought about by your heavy heartbeat. This may be a surprise but the sound comes from the animal situated just beside you. It is called elephant rumbling. Elephants are one of the highly intelligent animals yet they are the ones with the least form of communication. Unlike cats that purr and dogs that bark, elephants have some form of communication and vocalization.
Apart from the trumpeting sounds, the snorts and the croaking that they are popularly known for, elephants produce a rumbling sound. It is actually a deep, vibrating infra sound that is not easily heard by the human ear because it is very low (about twenty hertz) and this rumbling is produced from the elephant’s throat. You may not see them open their mouths, but the rumbling sound comes from the inside. In fact, it is their lively conversation. Try touching their bodies and feel their skin - you will find out that the strong vibration runs throughout the whole body of the elephant, something like a physical buzzing deep within. Most often, when elephants do the trumpet sound, the rumbling follows soon afterwards but not quite easily heard and detected not until you go near one of them.
Rumbling is a form of a long and far distance kind of communication even though it is kilometers apart from another elephant. It helps detect other elephant locations. In determining friends and family members, the intensity of the rumble is relied upon – the stronger the rumble, the closer they are to proximity and kind. Rumbling can be depended upon for protection of one’s kind when there is imminent danger. It is also used for communicating mating behavior.
How far can the rumbling sound be reached? As seen in the Discovery Magazine and Suite 101.com site, a study conducted by Dr Caitlin O'Connell-Rodwell, of Stanford University studies elephants in the wild in Nambia, Africa through her nonprofit organization Utopia Scientific revealed “that elephants' low-frequency rumbles can travel over two kilometers, and some studies have suggested that the sounds might travel up to 10 kilometers. Not only do these vibrations travel through the air, but these sound waves can also be transmitted through the ground the elephants stand on. Elephants sense these long- distance seismic vibrations through their feet and also by pressing their trunks to the ground. ”
That’s the moral of the story of Horton Hears a Who, a film based on the Dr. Seuss book of the name, which tells the story of Horton the Elephant, who encounters a talking speck, which actually turns out to contain the community of Whoville, home to the Whos. Since Horton is able to hear the people of Whoville’s pleas for help thanks to his big ears, he happily does all he can to protect them from harm. However, the rest of the animals around Horton ridicule him for talking to a speck, leaving him to find a way to prove their existence. In the end, Horton and Whos make their existence known, proving that “a person’s a person, no matter how small.”
The book further cements man’s fascination with elephants. Elephants, recognized as the largest animals on land anywhere on earth, are perhaps the most easy to recognize creatures on earth. As such, these giant animals are among the most beloved creatures known to man. Elephants are divided into 3 species, namely the African bush elephant, the African forest elephant, and the smallest of the 3, the Indian or Asian elephant.
Although their ancient ancestors once roamed virtually all parts of the world, wild populations of elephants are now boxed in continually decreasing swaths of land across Asia and Africa. Ever since the advent of the ivory trade, elephants have been hunted mercilessly for their ivory tusks, which is the most valued source of the material. As such, elephants are at constant threat of poaching, adding to a list of growing problems that include loss of habitat and human encroachment.
Elephants are renowned for their acute senses of hearing and smell, both of which play central roles in their everyday life. But until now, it was not known how important these senses were for basic, everyday tasks. (See: "Elephant Photo Gallery.")
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