A Surprise in the EB Family

I flew down to Amboseli on Tuesday, 10 June. The following day I had a report from one of the tour operators that Echo was in oestrus (the time when female elephants are ready to mate with males). I was a little doubtful since Echo is about 60 years old, but it is not unknown for females this old to have calves. Later in the afternoon when I knew the family would be out of the swamp I went out to find them. Some were already out on dry land but Echo was still happily feeding in the swamp. She was separated a bit from the others and only had her youngest calf, Esprit, with her.

The last elephant out of the swamp was Echo’s next oldest daughter, Emily Kate, and she was completely on her own about 40 metres from Echo. They soon joined up and a few adult males who were hanging about began to approach them. I watched carefully and realized that the one they were interested in wasn't Echo but Emily Kate! This realization was a shock because Emily Kate is only seven years old! She will be eight in two months time but that is still very young for a female to start reproduction. The average age of first conception is 12, giving an average age of first birth of 14. If Emily Kate conceives now she'll give birth at age nine. Her chances of successfully raising that calf are not good. In the 35 years of the study, we have only had a few females giving birth under 10 years old and half of these calves died. Eleven and older seems to be a much more reasonable age to have a first calf.

This morning I went out again to find Echo and her family and as I suspected Echo was teaching her daughter how to behave during oestrus. Echo was doing all the things an oestrous female does: walking very fast with bulls following, looking over her shoulder, head held high, tail up, moving away from the family, making a large arc and eventually coming back. Emily Kate followed and behind were the bulls. I watched this behavior for over an hour. Just before the long chase started, Emily Kate stopped to urinate. All the males in the vicinity came over and tested the urine and then took off deliberately to follow her. There was no interest in Echo or her urine so I was sure it was Emily Kate who was in oestrus.

We have seen this kind of teaching behavior by a mother before, but it always fascinates us. It only occurs when it is a young female who has not yet had a calf. We think it is important to the mothers to teach their daughters how to find the best mate. Oestrus only lasts three to four days and it is crucial that a female mate with a male who will pass on good genetic traits. One way elephants assure this outcome is for them to mate with older males who have proved themselves simply by living to an older age. It is these males who come into musth--the period of heightened dominance and sexual activity for male elephants. By exhibiting the unusual behavior of moving at a fast walk away from her family a female draws attention to herself, which attracts more males. In the first day or two of oestrus an experienced female will run away from young and medium-sized males. Finally a big musth male will find her, mate with her and, most important, guard her from the attentions of the other males. We surmise that it is this knowledge that the mother is trying to pass on to her daughter.

Emily Kate is lucky in having such an experienced and wise mother. Still I hope she doesn't conceive this time, but rather has a bit more time to grow up.