Elephant Social Structure

Welcome back.  If you are reading my second posting, I assume that you are interested in learning more about the lives of the Lewa elephant.  There are so many interesting stories to share, but we must begin with a basic understanding of elephant social structure.

The first important thing to realize is that elephant live in families.  So, the elephant in any given “herd” are almost always related in one way or another.  In addition, elephant live in matriarchal societies, and each family is headed by a dominant female, who is usually the oldest member of the family.  Thus, a herd will consist of the matriarch and her children, some of which may be adults, their offspring and often some of her sisters or cousins, along with their offspring.  A very large herd may consist of more than one family, and, as elephant do form friendships, certain families will “hang out” with each other on a regular basis.

The matriarch is the keystone of the family for she is the decision maker. It is she who knows where to go for food and water in times of drought, where to find safety, and when to traverse the dangerous areas – yes, elephant do know which areas are safe and which are dangerous, but that is another blog.

Young males remain with their family until their early teens at which point they are forced out on their own.  This is often a gradual transition with many months of coming and going.  For many years, it was believed that bulls then led solitary lives, but research has shown that bulls actually form friendships and bond with other males.  Young males also are often seen in the company of families other than their own –- presumably for companionship as elephant are very social animals. 

Elephant are highly intelligent, emotional beings that have very distinctive personalities – much like people.  So, in order to study and understand their behavior, we must be able to identify them just as you would in any study of people.  Because elephant live in families, the easiest way to identify them is to give each family a name.  Several different ways of naming them are used; in the case of the Lewa elephant, I use categories such as “Flowers” and “Gems”. 

London, matriarch of the European Capital family, has a very
distinctive cut on her left ear

The Liquer family stops for a drink

Within each family, the individual elephant are also named.  Each elephant has distinctive characteristics – normally in the ears and tusks.  In some cases, it is a very obvious cut or tear.  In other cases, it is something as subtle as a distinctive vein.  But, with time (and the help of digital photography) each elephant can be readily identified in the field so that its behavior can be observed and documented.

In the next blog, we will meet some of the families that call Lewa home.