Elephants Have 'Unique Skill'
Thu, 2007-10-18 21:32 — Jan
Elephants have 'unique skill'
Independent Online
October 18 2007
Chicago - African elephants can tell a human friend or foe by their scent, a skill which may be unique in the animal kingdom, a study released on Thursday says.
Researchers who set out to explore reports that elephants behave differently around members of Kenya's semi-nomadic Maasai people than around others were surprised to find that the animals appear to distinguish human groups based on their different scents.
Article at the following link:
http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=31&art_id=nw2007101...
Correction
Interesting article, thanks.
It seems to contain an error. The article says:
"The elephants travelled much faster in the minute after they smelled the Maasai man's clothing, and they travelled further in the first five minutes of the experiment than they did when they smelled the Kamba man's clothing.
"They also took longer to relax when they stopped in long grass some 300 kilometres (186 miles) away."
This must be a misprint. If anybody knows the correct distance, please chime in.
Hans