By Stephen Beech
Male African elephants develop “distinct” personality traits as they grow older, reveals new research.
They show “consistent” individual differences in aggression, dominance and friendly behavior, say scientists.
But the iconic species also adapt their behavior to suit the social context, according to the findings.
Study author Dr. Caitlin O’Connell-Rodwell, of Stanford University, said: “Elephants are highly intelligent and have rich social lives, and previous research has shown that captive elephants display distinct personality types.
“In the wild, females spend their entire lives in their family groups, but males disperse when they reach adulthood to join looser, all-male societies governed by dominance hierarchies.”
To expand the understanding of personality traits in wild elephants, the research team observed 34 male African savannah elephants in Etosha National Park in Namibia between 2007 and 2011.
They identified five types of behavior that were consistently different between individuals, including aggression and dominance behaviors, friendly social interactions, and self-comforting.
However, the researchers discovered that the elephant’s behavior was also influenced by social context.
Dr. O’Connell-Rodwell said: “Male elephants display five distinct character traits – affiliative, aggressive, dominant, anxious, and calm – consistently across time and context, and are also distinct from each other in how they display these five character traits.
“When younger males were present, other males were more likely to perform friendly and dominance behaviors.
“In contrast, when a socially influential male was present, the other males performed fewer friendly social interactions.
“The most dominant and socially influential male elephants in the society performed aggressive and friendly social behaviors equally frequently.
“Younger males were more similar in temperament than older males, suggesting that their unique personalities develop as they age.”
She says the study, published in the journal PLOS One, is the first to show that adult male elephants display distinct personality traits in the wild.
Dr. O’Connell-Rodwell said: “Although they showed consistency over time, male elephants were also flexible, adjusting their behavior depending on the social context.
“The results also suggest that the most socially successful male elephants are those that strike a balance between aggression and friendliness and that having mixed age groups within male elephant populations was extremely important to their wellbeing.”
She added: “A deeper understanding of wild elephant behavior could inform better conservation decision-making and improve the management of captive elephants.”
