Elephant Voices

Category: 1. General News, 6. Behavior, Elephant Photos | Date: Jun 25 2008 | By: elephantvoices

For those of you who just happen to be in Paris this summer you may want to stop by the Musee du Jeu de Paume to listen to elephants recorded in Amboseli. On 1 July artists Virginie Yassef and her colleague Julien Bismuth open an exhibition of their work, this time revolving around a sculpture of an elephant. ElephantVoices has contributed a 33 minute elephant soundscape to accompany the exhibition.

The artwork of Virginie and her colleagues starts from a concrete situation or problem, be it political or environmental. The result may be more abstract, poetic, or quiet, but seeks to work back towards the issue or concern. For Virginie and Julien elephants are animals that continue to exert a sense of wonder, the same sort of wonder you feel as a child when you first see such an otherworldy creature. The elephant sculpture and its accompaniments are meant as an hommage to elephants - to sensitize the audience to both their marvellous qualities, and of the natural world in general, and of their increasingly fragile and threatened state.

Although collaborating with a Parisan sculptor may seem a long way from elephant conservation - we believe that protecting elephants is as dependent on public awareness as it is on anti-poaching. In Paris the voices of Ella and her family will help to secure a future for elephants by inspiring wonder in the intelligence, complexity and voices of their kind.

The following description accompanies the elephant soundscape:In the late afternoon of 3 April 1999, surrounded by her large family, Ella gave birth to a male calf. Dr. Joyce Poole photographed the birth and recorded the cacophony of excited calls made by Ella’s family in first few hours and days of the calf’s life. The sounds presented here were recorded in the first two hours following the calf’s birth, while Ella and her eldest daughter, Emma, stood just meters from the research vehicle. The majority of calls are low rumbling sounds made to reassure the newborn. But there are also more excited rumbles as other members of the family return from feeding and playing to greet Ella and her new calf. Interspersed with the rumbles are more distant trumpets of playing elephants and the short sequence of trumpets by an alarmed calf who suddenly finds himself alone and comes running to his mother’s side. A newborn attracts intense interest from everyone in an elephant family, especially from juvenile females, who want to practice their care taking skills. Ella gently pushes them away, causing screams of protest followed by rumbles of reconciliation between Ella and the youngsters’ mothers. The bonds between members of this elephant family and the intense emotions felt are expressed in the tone and tempo of their calling.

As Ella gives birth the entire family gathers around in a cacophony of elephant sound.

Erin helps Ella to assist the newborn to its feet.

Tags: amboseli, elephant birth, elephant sound, elephants, elephantvoices, ella

5 responses so far

Category: 1. General News | Date: Jun 17 2008 | By: elephantvoices

Dear friends,

I just received an email outlining the plight of wildlife in Zimbabwe. I am going to post it here in case any of you can follow up. I am trying to find out where you can send donations…but for now I have only an email or website. I just cut and pasted so the photos didn’t come through….

“ZIMBABWE CONSERVATION TASK FORCE

15th June 2008

As the economic situation rapidly deteriorates in Zimbabwe, we are receiving reports that poaching is escalating at an alarming rate.

Five white rhino have recently been killed by poachers. 3, including a baby, were shot in the Chivero National Park. Prior to this, the rhino population in Chivero has always been very well protected and these are the first rhino that have ever been killed in this area. The other 2 were also shot in a National Park but we have not yet confirmed the exact location.

We are receiving reports that elephants are being shot regularly in the Kariba area. One informant reported that he personally knows of 18 that have been shot this year.

A fortnight ago, poachers shot a zebra and 3 cows at Imire Safari Ranch.

The number of animals caught in wire snares is increasing and there is a shortage of the drug needed to tranquilize the animals in order to remove the snares. Many animals are therefore dying an agonizing, lingering death.

Some elephants that are part of the Presidential Herd in Hwange have been sighted with wire snares on them. As the tranquilizer is not readily available, it is not possible to remove the snares and some of these elephants are now presumed dead.

In 2005, we raised funds to purchase 12 vials of M99, the drug required to tranquilize the larger animals. One vial is sufficient to tranquilize approximately 4 elephants or possibly 8 buffalo. Thanks to the people and organizations who assisted us with funds, numerous animals of all species have been saved but our supplies are now depleted.

These are photos of a small selection of the snare removals that have been carried out using this drug.

SNARE REMOVED FROM A ZEBRA SNARE REMOVED FROM A BUFFALO

SNARE REMOVED FROM AN ELEPHANT

The drug, which is not available in Zimbabwe, costs R2 200 or USD300 per vial and we are urgently appealing for assistance in replenishing our stocks. If anyone is able to help, please contact us - contact details below.

Johnny Rodrigues
Chairman for Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force
Landline: 263 4 336710
Landline/Fax: 263 4 339065
Mobile: 263 11 603 213
Email: galorand@mweb.co.zw
Website: www.zctf.mweb.co.zw
Website: www.zimbabwe-art.com”

4 responses so far

Category: 1. General News, Elephant Sounds | Date: Jun 13 2008 | By: elephantvoices

Hi again,

I apologize for the long gap in elephants sounds. I got to a point where I was forced to make a whole series of new spectrograms for the work we’re doing toward an online database of elephant calls, in addition to working with a continues flow of issues related to elephant conservation and welfare. The spectrograms of some of the rarer calls had not yet been uploaded to our current offline database and many needed first to be made. I had to make over 200 of them and each one is quite time consuming.

The last time I wrote about how elephants use sound to intimidate predators I mentioned what I call a trumpet blast. In addition, they have a couple of other powerful calls in their bag of frightening tricks! The roars elephants produce when they are scaring off lions are deafening! One of the early elephant scientists, Sylvia Sykes commented that these sounds could put “fear in the hearts of men.” Indeed they can!

I was out with the EB family one day when Enid came upon a pride of lions resting under a small Acacia. With one incredible roar from her the lions ran off. When you listen to the sound she made notice how Enid begins to rumble and then takes a deep breath before roaring at the lions. Notice, too, that after she inhales she starts with a short rumble, then roars and then ends again with a rumble. We call this type of concantenated call a rumble-roar-rumble. Can you hear the difference between the trumpet blast and the roar?

Enid roars at a group of lions resting under an Acacia:

Thank you, Michelle P and Anna M, for your continued support! And thank you Nathalia! Your support is very much appreciated.

Petter and I wish you all a great weekend!

Tags: amboseli, elephant communication, elephants, elephantvoices

2 responses so far

Category: 4. Welfare News | Date: Jun 10 2008 | By: elephantvoices

Some of you may want to read the book Elephants and Ethics: Toward a Morality of Coexistence. Together with Cynthia Moss Joyce has authored a chapter called “Elephant sociality and complexity: The scientific evidence.”

2 responses so far

Category: 6. Behavior, Elephant Sounds | Date: Jun 06 2008 | By: elephantvoices

If an elephant or group of elephants decides to intimidate a predator they may do so by producing a range of terrifyingly powerful vocalizations. One of these calls is a particularly loud blasting trumpet, which sounds very different from the trumpets elephants make when they are playful or excited. Elephants typically give this blasting trumpet as they are charging at their adversary, or as they come to a dramatic stop meters away, flinging their trunk toward, throwing debris at and/or kicking dust at the object of their fury.

If you go to our visual and tactile signals database on our website ElephantVoices you can find some photographs of these behaviors by searching for the words “Charge”, “Mock-Charge”, “Throw-Debris” and “Kick-Dust.” The primary function of the blasting trumpet appears to be to attempt to frighten. It usually works!

Listen to how an elephant sounds when it is trumpeting at a predator or an animal that it is trying to scare away.

An adult male elephants trumpets at lions: z0403622.mp3

An eight year old elephants trumpets at a Maasai dog: z1701525.mp3

An adolescent female, Ebony, trumpets when bravely “seeing off” a hyena: c2000625.mp3

2 responses so far