Elephants are some of the most fascinating social animals on the planet. Iconic for being the largest of all land mammals, in addition to possessing large ears and prehensile trunks, these giants currently consist of three recognised species: African bush elephants, African forest elephants and Asian elephants.

Elephant society

Elephants are some of the most fascinating social animals on the planet. Iconic for being the largest of all land mammals, in addition to possessing large ears and prehensile trunks, these giants currently consist of three recognised species: African bush elephants, African forest elephants and Asian elephants.

Whilst elephant species differ physically in aspects such as body size and ear shape, they all exist in dynamic social structures known as ‘fission-fusion societies’. These societies are formed of tight-knit herds of related females and their calves, led by an experienced, older female or ‘matriarch’. In contrast to females, male elephants leave their female-led family groups when they reach adolescence to live alone or in all-male bachelor herds where they establish dominance hierarchies. Like us, elephants form strong bonds and different herds, along with males, will join (fusion) and split up (fission) whilst moving through the environment. So how do these animals communicate with each other, especially when they are far apart?

Because they live in highly complex societies, elephants have evolved sophisticated communication systems to share important ecological knowledge as well as information such as their social and physiological statuses, emotions, needs and intentions. Like many social species, elephants communicate using a range of finely-tuned senses including sound, sight, touch and smell – and can even detect vibrations with their feet! As a result, communication among elephants can be incredibly subtle and therefore researchers are still working to decode their elaborate language.

Vocal communication

Elephants have exceptional hearing and can communicate using an assortment of over 70 distinct vocalisations. While studying wild elephants, I was charged by a male who let out a trumpet that would not have sounded out of place in a cartoon and thought: ‘Wow, they actually sound like that!’. Of course, I also got to hear many of the other intriguing sounds that elephants can make, which include low rumbles as well as higher-pitched snorts, roars, barks and cries. Different calls are thought to have unique meanings and some elephants have even been found to use specific alarm calls for different potential dangers.

Whilst the vocal calls that elephants produce can vary in pitch, power and duration, the most commonly used are low-frequency rumbles. Generally, male elephants produce rumbles that fluctuate around 12 Hz whilst female elephant rumbles fluctuate around 13Hz. Some researchers have even recorded rumbles as low as 5 Hz. To put this in perspective, the lower range of human hearing is 20Hz, meaning that most elephant rumbles are so low that they are inaudible to us!

Sounds at low frequencies travel further than those at high frequencies and the deepest elephant rumbles can travel up to 6 miles through the environment. Elephants are therefore able to use these specialised rumbles to communicate over long distances of forest and savanna. As well as being used in long-range communication, rumbles are also used at close-range within groups. For example, elephant calves use rumbles to beg their mothers for milk.

Seismic communication

Elephant rumbles also generate seismic waves – vibrations that travel through the ground and along the Earth’s surface. Using their sensitive feet and trunks, elephants are able to interpret the meanings of these vibrations. It is thought that elephants detect seismic waves through bone conduction, where vibrations travel through the skeleton to the inner ear, as well as through receptors sending signals through nerves to the brain. Because vibrations can travel further through the ground than in air, seismic communication allows elephants to send and receive information over even longer distances.

When observing wild elephants, it is not uncommon to see entire groups freeze to focus on incoming signals. If these signals are far away, elephants may also lay their trunks on the ground, lean forward or press their feet into the earth to allow for better detection of seismic waves. Elephants can also work out the distance and direction of signals by triangulating vibrations travelling through the ground and the air. Some research has even suggested that herds respond differently to alarm calls based on their transmission, as those detected through the ground are perceived to be further away.

The seismic vibrations created by elephants are not always deliberate - these large mammals can create tremors with just their footsteps, especially when running or charging. These passive signals allow elephants to eavesdrop on each other and can be helpful in signalling dangers. Because of this, researchers believe that seismic waves have potential in remote sensing, where information is gathered indirectly from sensors to monitor animals and their environments. The use of seismic waves in remote sensing could even allow for the detection of poaching threats to elephant populations.

Visual communication

Elephants have good vision in dim light but in bright conditions, their sight is substantially reduced. Despite this, elephants are masters at reading each other’s body language and communicate visually using a diverse range of postures, gestures and displays. To create these gestures, elephants use their heads, eyes, mouths, ears, trunks, tails, feet and entire bodies.

Some of the most obvious visual signaling among elephants can be observed during threat displays in which elephants attempt to demonstrate their strength and establish dominance. During these displays, elephants try to appear larger and more intimidating to predators or adversaries by spreading their ears, raising their heads and lifting their tusks high. Elephants may also shake their heads, swing their trunks and charge during threat displays, however, not all charges are aggressive – some are playful!

Elephants also make distinctive gestures to express their emotions. For example, when relatives greet each other, they raise their heads high, flap their ears rapidly and may pirouette, swiftly turning towards and away from each other in excitement. On the other hand, when elephants are fearful, they may raise their tails and lift their chins in anticipation of a threat.

Visual signals can also be used to communicate physiological status. An example of this is when male elephants enter musth; a periodic condition characterised by a dramatic increase in testosterone and heightened aggression. In this state, males toss their heads, wave their ears and may display a ‘musth-walk’, in which they hold their heads high and stride purposefully with a rolling swagger.

Tactile communication

Despite their thick skin, elephants are incredibly sensitive to touch and tactile communication is extremely important in their society. Elephants send tactile signals by touching each other with their trunks, ears, tusks, feet, tails and bodies. Moreover, family members are often in constant physical contact with one another while drinking, standing and resting. This type of communication is displayed in a wide range of contexts including aggression, affection, affiliation, courtship, reassurance and play.

The most commonly used body part in tactile interactions is the trunk, which functions like a human hand and even has ‘fingers’. Elephant trunks are so sensitive that they can detect pressure differences as light as 0.25 mm in depth. In playful sparring matches, elephants may intertwine their trunks and even attempt to push each other down by placing their trunks on the heads of their opponents. Elephants also use their trunks to affectionately caress other individuals, for example, mothers appear to touch their calves faces with their trunks to provide them with comfort and reassurance.

In contrast, tactile communication can also be used during aggressive interactions, which are essential in maintaining elephant dominance hierarchies. During head-to-head dominance contests, elephants may attempt to push, shove and interlock their tusks with opponents to force them into vulnerable positions where they can be gored. Whilst the meanings of tactile dominance signals are evident, others still require more research to be fully understood.

Olfactory communication

Olfactory, otherwise known as chemical or scent-based signals, are critical in elephant communication. Elephants have an acute sense of smell which they constantly use to explore their environments. With around 2000 genes dedicated to scent (compared to a measly 400 in humans), elephants are thought to have the best olfactory system in the animal kingdom and can even detect water sources up to 12 miles away.

Scent-based communication often accompanies tactile communication at close range, where elephants use their trunks to touch and smell secretions from each other’s mouths, ears, temporal glands and genitals. Chemical signals detected in the body odours of elephants as well as urine and faeces contain important social information like dominance, reproductive status and health. If smelling yields insufficient information, elephants transfer substances from their trunks to their mouths, where they are passed to a chemical detection unit called the Jacobson’s organ.

Elephants are also capable of detecting far-off chemical signals, allowing for long distance communication. Akin to detecting seismic vibrations, elephants may suddenly freeze to focus on unfamiliar scents. When doing this, herds can be observed displaying ‘periscoping’ behaviours, in which they raise ‘S-shaped’ trunks to smell the air. Some research has shown that elephants can actually use distant odours to track others and that scents play an important role in elephant navigation.

Why elephant communication matters

Elephants are keystone species and are critical in maintaining the biodiversity of the ecosystems that they live in by creating animal pathways and habitats, dispersing seeds and releasing water from the earth. Today, these animals are facing two major threats: poaching and habitat loss from agricultural development. The growing overlap in resources required by elephants and humans has resulted in increasing human-wildlife conflict through incidents such as crop-raiding.

Understanding how elephants communicate may play an important role in alleviating these current threats, by allowing us to predict how they coordinate group movements through the landscape. Furthermore, this may allow scientists to pinpoint areas where deterrents like chilli plants and beehive fences may be best implemented to prevent crop-raiding. Understanding the signals that elephants use to communicate may also have implications for future remote monitoring, which could be used to inform of threats like poaching. Further research into how these giants send and receive messages may therefore provide a pivotal turning point in their conservation.

Sian Prosser

Sian is a master’s graduate in Evolutionary and Behavioural Ecology from the University of Exeter. She is enthusiastic about research concerning social behaviour and is particularly interested in cooperation and conflict within animal groups. Her fascination with animal behaviour was realised during her undergraduate research project, in which she examined the behaviour of wild African bush elephants. Sian aspires to pursue a career in research, focusing on social behaviour in animal groups and how it can be applied to inform practical conservation strategies.

The Language of Giants: How Elephants Communicate