Elephant Calling

During the heightened sexual and aggressive period of musth, males secrete from swollen temporal glands, dribble urine and give a distinctive type of very low frequency call referred to as a musth rumble. This call has a characteristically pulsated "put-put-put" quality or may sound like water gurgling through a deep tunnel. Musth rumbling is associated with an increased rate of urine dribbling and a particular ear posture known as ear waving.

Musth Rumble
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Elephants use Contact Calls to keep in audible contact with one another sometimes over long distances. In a sense an interchange of contact calls queries, "I am here, where are you?" and in answer, "I am over here". Contact calls typically contain a series of at least three calls: The querying rumble by the initial caller, an answer by a second individual and then a confirmation by the initial caller that the answer has been received. Other nearby family members may also add their voice to the second or third phase of the series.

Contact Call
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A female elephant uses the "Let's go" rumble to announce to her group that she wishes to depart and to indicate the direction that she wishes to go(1). The "Let's go" appears to be a sound that states in essence, "I want to go this direction, let's go together". A calling elephant repeats her "Let's go" appeal once every minute or so, sometimes for periods of up to half an hour, as she tries to persuade others to depart. Sometimes she may gain the support of other individuals who join in the calling with her, but typically this is a solo call. The calling female(s) stands facing the way she wants to go and rumbles with slow, rhythmic ear flapping.

"Let's Go" Rumble





Savanna Elephant VocaliZation Project