When the elephants smelled the Maasai-worn clothing, they basically ran for their lives, which Byrne said further suggests elephants would rather run from human foes than try to attack them. It only took a few elephants that had experienced negative Maasai encounters to communicate the presence of possible danger to the rest of the herd, which followed their lead. This indicates elephants that have learned something by experience will share the knowledge with their fellow herd members through vocal, visual or scent cues. Jeff Andrews, an elephant researcher and animal care manager at the San Diego Zoo, told Discovery News that he's not yet convinced elephants can discriminate between people based on clothing color, since he believes elephant vision is still somewhat of a mystery. But he witnessed the odor phenomenon firsthand. "Some of our elephants were rescued from Swaziland," he said. "One day a Maasai gentleman came to visit the zoo. As I took him to visit the elephants, before we were even in sight of the animals, I could hear the elephants getting alarmed. As we approached, calves were running to take cover under their mothers and adults were snorkeling, or putting their trunks way up, with tips curved, to smell the air." Andrews added, "Whether the reaction was based on something negative in the elephants' past or was just a reaction to a past familiar smell is unclear, but these elephants certainly seemed to remember the Maasai." Related Links: The Amboseli Elephant Research Project |
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