SLWCS Field Report

Bull behavior study at the WG Tank, Wasgamuwa, Sri Lanka

Bulls forming alliances and coalitions against dominant bulls
Date: November 25, 2016
Time: 5 pm

The evening was gradually descending into dusk but it was still bright and sunny with a large gathering of elephants in the littoral plains of the WG Tank. Two females showed obvious signs of estrus and was attracting a large number of bulls of various ages and musth conditions. It was interesting to observe that some of these young mature bulls had formed coalitions and were ganging up against unfamiliar bulls of similar age. At the same time, two dominant bulls in musth behaved in a similar manner by ganging up together to chase of a much larger and dominant bull in musth. Interestingly the coalition of three young mature bulls supported the two bulls by blocking the most dominant bull from accessing the female herd.

According to the prevailing understanding of elephant social and reproductive behavior the largest dominant bull in musth gets the opportunity to mate. It could be assumed from this incident that the less dominant males in musth formed allegiances with younger sub-dominant males. These bulls seem to obtain the support of younger mature bull coalitions to get rid of the larger dominant bulls to get access to estrus females. Further observations of bull behavior needs to be conducted to arrive at a definite conclusion.

Night observations of elephant behavior WG Tank, Wasgamuwa, Sri Lanka
Date: November 25, 2016
Time: 7 pm

It seems dominant bulls undergo a Jekyll and Hyde transformation in the darkness of the night. By 7 pm night has descended and with no moonlight the entire area was in total darkness. We were in the Land Rover which we had parked as close as we could get to the elephants. As we stayed quietly in the vehicle the grazing elephants gradually advanced and were all around us—some just touching distance. As darkness engulfed us we could barely discern the elephants. They disappeared from view and only their sounds were there to keep us company.

Turning on the night vision we observed the elephants. The night vision observations gave an amazing insight into elephant behavior especially of the dominant bulls. We observed that the large dominant bulls had undergone a remarkable change in their behavior. The normally placid and sedate bulls became boisterous big bullies chasing cows and trying to separate the young calves from their mothers. Several times we faced a tensed situation as some of these cows came running towards the Land Rover with a towering massif of a bull chasing after them. In the darkness we were concerned whether the elephants would crash into our vehicle. Fortunately every time the elephants managed to evade the Land Rover and run past us without causing any mishaps.

Video links:

Video 01: https://youtu.be/GRyXkC20T6o
Video 02: https://youtu.be/ZvgoBPcR_sU
Video 03: https://youtu.be/z7EsU5r5PaY

Pictures and videos: Chandima Fernando/Sri Lanka Wildlife Conservation Society/2016

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