More Than a Rumble – Do Elephants Call Each Other by Name? – Londolozi Blog

One of the most magical experiences at Londolozi is sitting quietly in the bush and listening to the symphony of sounds around you. Among these, the deep rumbles and trumpeting of elephants have always fascinated me. These majestic giants, with their complex social structures and deep familial bonds, communicate in ways that are still being unravelled by science. While the intricate language of elephants has recently been discussed, the results of a long-term study recently caught my eye as it reveals that elephants might actually use unique, individualised calls to address one another—essentially using names, much like we do!

The Discovery

In a groundbreaking study published in Nature Ecology and Evolution, researchers discovered that African elephants use specific calls to communicate with one another. These calls are not mere imitations but are distinct sounds that identify and address specific individuals. This study took place over several decades, from 1986 to 2022, in Amboseli National Park and Samburu and Buffalo Springs National Reserves in Kenya.

It is believed that elephant calves learn to recognise their caregivers through special rumbles, a process that helps them identify and bond with their family members from an early age.

Types of Elephant Calls

Elephants have a variety of calls, with the rumble being the most common. These rumbles can be categorised into three types:

• Contact Rumbles: Used to communicate with elephants that are far away or out of sight
• Greeting Rumbles: Employed when elephants are within touching distance
• Caregiver Rumbles: Used by adolescent or adult females when addressing a calf

Decoding Elephant Communication

The researchers analysed 469 recordings of elephant calls using a machine-learning model. They aimed to determine if the calls contained specific “names” by examining if the acoustic features could indicate the call’s intended recipient. Remarkably, the model correctly identified the recipient 27.5% of the time, significantly higher than random chance. Further experiments involved playing back calls to elephants to see if they recognised when a call was meant for them. The elephants responded more strongly to calls originally addressed to them, indicating that they could indeed distinguish when they were being “named.”

A greeting ritual between two elephant cows whereby both individuals raise their trunks towards the other’s mouth and tusks

Social Bonds and Communication

Elephants have complex social structures and maintain lifelong bonds with many individuals. The use of name-like calls could help strengthen these bonds, especially when individuals are separated. For example, caregiver rumbles were more accurately classified by the machine-learning model, suggesting that caregivers may frequently use names to comfort calves or teach them their names.

Future Research

While this study is a significant step forward, researchers are eager to explore further. They hope to determine how exactly these calls contain names and whether different elephants use the same name for the same individual. Understanding these aspects could open new avenues in the study of animal communication and cognition.

Being in the presence of elephants always leaves me in awe as they continue to amaze me with their intelligence and social complexity. This research, now not only enriches our understanding of these gentle giants but also offers intriguing insights into the possible origins of language in the animal kingdom. So next time you visit Londolozi or find yourself amongst a herd witnessing these magnificent creatures, remember they might just be calling out to a friend by name, much like we do. The bush is full of wonders, and the more we learn, the more we realise how much there is still to discover about these incredible beings.