In a groundbreaking discovery, researchers have found that elephants use individual names when calling to each other, marking the first time non-human animals have been known to use names without imitating sounds.
The study was conducted by an international team of researchers who used artificial intelligence to analyze the calls of two wild herds of African savannah elephants in Kenya. This revelation adds elephants to the exclusive list of animals, alongside dolphins and parrots, known to address each other individually.
Lead author Michael Pardo, a behavioural ecologist at Colorado State University, emphasized the significance of the findings. “The research not only shows that elephants use specific vocalisations for each individual, but that they recognise and react to a call addressed to them while ignoring those addressed to others,” Pardo told AFP. “This indicates that elephants can determine whether a call was intended for them just by hearing the call, even when out of its original context.”
The data for this study were collected over several decades, from 1986 to 2022, at Kenya’s Samburu National Reserve and Amboseli National Park. Researchers meticulously sifted through recorded elephant “rumbles” and identified 469 distinct calls using a machine learning algorithm. These included calls from 101 elephants and responses from 117 individuals.
Elephants are known for their wide range of sounds, from loud trumpeting to rumbles so low that they cannot be heard by the human ear. The study noted that names were not always used in elephant calls, but they were often employed over long distances and when adults were addressing young elephants.
This discovery not only deepens our understanding of elephant communication but also highlights the complex social structures within elephant herds.
Leave a Reply