Memory of Female Elephants Preparatory Ground for Hardships
posted in Animal Species |Memories that remain in female elephant’s mind can help the elephants prepare for the hard times in the future, particularly when drought conditions prevail. This fact emerged in a new research conducted by researchers of Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS).
Scientists observed elephant herds that had gathered at the Tanzania’s Tarangire National Park, which had experienced a severe drought from 1958 to 1961. The second drought that occurred in that area in 1993 indicted that elephants that had mothers who had gone through the earlier drought went in search of better places for their food and water supply. This shows that elephant mothers that remembered the difficult conditions of the previous drought were better prepared to face up to the challenges of a recurring drought. In fact, groups that went elsewhere in search of food and water had more calves surviving as compared to family groups that remained in the same place.
Matriarch elephants are strong enough to live through two droughts. In the case of the Tarangire National Park incident, the matriarch elephants were 5years or perhaps older when the first drought had occurred. They were in a position to take precautions during the second drought as they were aware of the pitfalls. The group of elephants, which could not fend for itself in the second drought, was due to the fact that it had no elephant in its group, which had experienced the previous drought.
The study also highlights the fact that groups, which had older members had better survival chances as the past memories of these older elephants helped them to sustain themselves in the present drought. In the elephant society, the female elephant leads the family and is therefore more prone to remember events for the family welfare.
Researchers favor the protection of veteran elephants as more droughts are occurring due to global warming.