Dzanga Forest Elephants

Category: Elephants | Date: Jan 13 2008 | By: admin

Left Loop

With the continuing dry season more holes have opened up in the clearing and for a few days more and more males have returned to Dzanga. A freak rain filled the favorite holes and this resulted in fewer males in the daylight hours. Now with a two week dry period new holes have gradually opened up.

Yesterday the northern end of the clearing contained at least six big bulls waiting around the now favorite hole. The dominant bull, Left Loop, spent most of the afternoon in this hole. During the middle of the afternoon he left the hole and came in our direction where he stood in front of the observation platform and waited. I almost had the feeling that he knew we were there. This went on for about thirty minutes before he left to return to the hole. This is a bull which we first identified in 1990 and who comes in regularly. He is not a seasonal bull, but one who comes in all times of the year. The other bulls backed off as soon as they were aware of his return. How they know a bigger bull and more dominant bull is coming in their direction is a mystery, but perhaps the approach is sensed by the vibrations set off by his foot falls.

Later in the afternoon another big bull entered the bai from the east. Eldridge, whom we had seen two days ago, was in musth. Today he trotted in and overtook the best hole in the southern sector which had been used by a group of younger bulls. Two days ago he competed with a smaller male in musth for what we thought was an estrous female and ended up chasing the smaller male away but in the end the courtship between the female and Eldridge didn’t work. With his entry was the unmistakable smell of musth which permeated the bai and elephants in his vicinity excitedly vocalized. He planted himself in the southern hole driving off the other males.

Eldridge