Spectrograms of the onset of ( a) tiger, ( b) leopard and ( c) elephant growls. Therefore, we predicted that elephants would discriminate the acoustically distinct growls of tigers and leopards and would display stronger antipredator behaviour to the more dangerous tiger-growl playbacks. Elephants themselves produce guttural growls while communicating with conspecifics and may possess a broad, low-frequency acoustical-assessment ability useful for differentiating similar growls of other species. Tigers are known to opportunistically prey on elephant calves, whereas there is no mention, either in the literature or anecdotally, of elephants being a part of leopards’ diets. We investigated whether wild elephants could discriminate the aggressive growls of tigers and leopards. In contrast to these daytime playback studies, our research is the first empirical investigation of night-time elephant antipredator behaviour and the first to examine elephant differentiation of growls from two sympatric felid species posing differential predatory threats. Other research on elephant risk assessment has shown that African elephants retreat and alarm call in response to playbacks of threatening African bees. showed that, in African elephants, female family groups hearing lion-roar playbacks were able to identify situations that represented the greatest danger and those with older matriarchs were particularly adept at recognizing the specific danger presented by male (as opposed to female) lions. While these behaviours have been documented extensively in many mammals, they are virtually unexplored in Asian elephants ( Elephas maximus).Ĭomparatively, more antipredator behaviour research has been conducted on African elephants ( Loxodonta africana). This antipredator response is reflective of the degree of predatory threat animals respond more strongly to a more dangerous predatory species or to situations of increased vulnerability. We anticipate that the methods outlined here will promote further study of elephant antipredator behaviour in a naturalistic context, with applications for conservation efforts as well.Īntipredator behaviour refers to a suite of behaviours that prey species exhibit in response to predators including alertness, aggression, flight and vocalizing, among others. Elephants also lingered in the area and displayed alert or investigative behaviours in response to leopard growls when compared with tiger growls. Elephants retreated silently to tiger-growl playbacks, whereas they responded with aggressive vocalizations, such as trumpets and grunts, to leopard-growl playbacks. Elephants reacted similarly cautiously to the simulated presence of felids of both species by eventually moving away, but differed markedly in their more immediate behavioural responses. Tigers opportunistically prey on elephant calves, whereas leopards pose no threat therefore, we predicted that the elephant response would be reflective of this difference. We examined the provocative effects of elephant-triggered tiger and leopard growls while elephants attempted to crop-raid. Our research described here is the first formal study to investigate night-time antipredator behaviour in any species of elephants, Asian or African. The nature of this response is variable, with animals reacting more strongly in situations of increased vulnerability. Prey species exhibit antipredator behaviours such as alertness, aggression and flight, among others, in response to predators.
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