Watch to find out more about the different reasons an elephant flaps its ears. We share some remarkable footage of the rescued herd to show you why elephants flap their ears both to keep cool and as reaction to excitement, surprise or stress, and to potential threats.
Come along, and see why these animals are so well adapted to their environment and how they act with a nurturing instinct when coming across Khanyisa in the bush one day, during the early integration of her into the herd in 2020. The surprise of seeing her creates quite the activity among all the elephants!
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An African elephant’s giant flappers are laced with a network of veins and capillaries that can also be used for identification. If you’re up close and in just the right light the intricate pattern is easily visible, but there is a far more important reason that these blood transporting vessels are so close to the surface.
The radiator of a motor car works by passing engine coolant through thin metal fins, which allows the heat generated by the engine to flow to the outside air moving past the radiator and a fan assists by kicking into action when necessary. A thermostat controls the flow of the coolant.
Amazingly, this is almost exactly the modus operandi employed by an elephant using blood in place of antifreeze coolant. By flapping those giant mud-covered ears and controlling the blood flow through them, elephants can significantly reduce their body temperature, reportedly by up to 9 degrees centigrade.
According to Elephant Voices, a respected organisation with a wealth of collected elephant research, African elephants use their ears to gesticulate. Where we might square or shrug our shoulders or wave our arms about an elephant would use any of a number of ‘ear gestures’. Ear-spreading, ear-flattening, ear-folding, ear-stiffening and rapid ear-flapping, are all used singly or in combination to signify either aggression or in greeting and bonding situations.
The ear-flap-slide causes the ears to make a rasping sound as they rub downward against the shoulders and are often used as elephant indicators to signify a change in direction while a loud ear-slap can be a sign of annoyance, a bit like a child stamping its foot. Males in musth use their ears to waft their odour toward other elephants.
9 сен 2024
