wizewomansoils:nubbsgalore:researchers who followed fourteen different elephant herds in western

wizewomansoils: nubbsgalore: researchers who followed fourteen different elephant herds in western namibia for seven years have concluded that the animals have the ability to sense thunderstorms up to 186 miles away — most likely from rain system generated infrasound — and can predict approaching rain up to twelve days before it occurs. western namibia is a vast expanse of land with a protracted dry season, and different herds in disparate locations, which desperately need the water and the vegetation that comes with it, will simultaneously change their migratory path, and pace, to head towards rain that is pending or falling great distances away. this discovery could have major implications for conservation efforts, helping wildlife officials to better predict the location and movement of elephant herds sought by poachers. more than 100 thousand african elephants were killed for their ivory between 2010 and 2012, and with many experts estimating there to be no more than 400 thousand left, the animal could be extinct within the decade.  photos by (click pic) paul goldstein, mike nichols, christina krutz, michel denis-huot and beverly joubert in masai mara. study published in PLoS ONE  A ELEPHANT NEVER FORGETS - NEITHER WILL JEHOVAH FORGET THESE WONDERFUL ANIMALS - THEY WILL CONTINUE TO BE PART OF HIS PLAN FOR THE EARTH - Elephants “Don’t Forget Their Friends” “Elephants never forget—or at least, they don’t forget their friends,” reports New Scientist magazine. Dr. Karen McComb of the University of Sussex, England, recorded the low-pitched “contact calls” of female African elephants in Amboseli National Park, Kenya, noting which elephants would meet together frequently and which were strangers. She then played back their calls to 27 elephant families to study their responses. If the animals knew the caller well, they immediately called back. If they knew the caller only slightly, they listened but did not respond, and an unfamiliar call made them agitated and defensive. “They could recognise members of at least 14 other families from their calls, which suggests that each elephant can remember around 100 other adults,” the article stated. Elephants may remember humans too. John Partridge, head of mammals at England’s Bristol Zoo, says that an Asian elephant he worked with for 18 years recognized him when he returned after a three-year break. Elephant Communication An elephant’s vocal cords are so huge that the basic frequency of the sounds they produce is 20 cycles per second or less—well below the range of human hearing. Such deep rumblings carry well, and elephants can recognize them from a mile [1.5 km] away. They can also identify as many as 150 different calls, responding positively to the signals of family members and those bonded to their group. Usually elephants ignore the calls of strangers or become agitated at hearing them. After research studies in the Amboseli National Park, in Kenya, animal behaviorist Dr. Karen McComb, of Britain’s University of Sussex, explained that “such extensive networks of vocal communication have not been demonstrated in any other mammal,” reports The Times of London. Researchers who followed fourteen different elephant herds in western Namibia for seven years have concluded that the animals have the ability to sense thunderstorms up to 186 miles away — most likely from rain system generated infrasound — and can predict approaching rain up to twelve days before it occurs. Western Namibia is a vast expanse of land with a protracted dry season, and different herds in disparate locations, which desperately need the water and the vegetation that comes with it, will simultaneously change their migratory path, and pace, to head towards rain that is pending or falling great distances away. This discovery could have major implications for conservation efforts, helping wildlife officials to better predict the location and movement of elephant herds sought by poachers. More than 100 thousand african elephants were killed for their ivory between 2010 and 2012, and with many experts estimating there to be no more than 400 thousand left, the animal could be extinct within the decade.  photos by (click pic) paul goldstein, mike nichols, christina krutz, michel denis-huot and beverly joubert in masai mara. study published in PLoS ONE   at Bible Speaks. (9 photos) -- source link

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