Elephants are incredibly social creatures with a sophisticated and intricate communication system.

Elephant communication involves all of the senses—touch, sight, smell, and hearing.

Additionally, elephants have an extraordinary ability to detect vibrations, which plays a crucial role in how they interact with each other and their environment!

Acoustic Communication

Elephants are capable of producing a diverse range of sounds, from gentle rumbles to loud roars, cries, barks, trumpets, and more. The most commonly used vocalization by elephants is the rumble, which spans a wide frequency range—from low-frequency rumbles as deep as 12 Hz (much lower than the typical 220 Hz range of a human female voice) to higher-pitched roars that can reach 470 Hz. Roars can be incredibly loud, reaching 112 decibels, nearly the same volume as a jet engine taking off!

Elephants produce such a broad spectrum of sounds by adjusting the length of their vocal cords. By manipulating the position of their trunk and controlling the speed and duration of the air passing through it, elephants can also produce high-pitched trumpeting sounds, often referred to as trunk calls.

Visual Communication

For elephants, visual or nonverbal communication is as essential as it is for humans. They use a variety of body parts to convey messages, including their heads, eyes, mouths, ears, tusks, trunks, tails, and even their feet.

For example, an angry elephant may flap its ears, toss dust in the air, swing its trunk, or charge. To appear larger when threatened or to assert dominance, an elephant will raise its head and spread it's ears wide. A socially excited elephant might widen its eyes and rapidly flap it's ears, while a frightened elephant may raise its tail and chin.

Chemical Communication

Elephants have an exceptional sense of smell and rely on it extensively to navigate and make sense of their surroundings. In fact, elephants are believed to have the most advanced olfactory system in the animal kingdom.

Rather than focusing on eye contact like humans do, elephants use the tip of their trunk, constantly sniffing and analyzing the scents around them. Their trunks are a combination of their nose and upper lip, and elephants have around 2,000 genes dedicated to scent detection—far more than the 800 in dogs and 400 in humans.

Musth and Chemical Signals

Musth is a Persian word describing a dramatic change in behavior in male elephants, marked by a significant increase in testosterone levels—up to 60 times higher than normal. This period of aggression, which can last for weeks or months, is often unpredictable and dangerous, which is why mature male elephants are generally kept separate from females and treated with great caution.

Tactile Communication

Elephants possess an astonishing ability to feel vibrations caused by other elephants' vocalizations through their feet. Seismic energy, which is most effectively transmitted between 10 and 40 Hz, aligns perfectly with the deep rumbles elephants produce. These sounds travel not only through the air but also through the ground.

Remarkably, elephants can interpret the messages conveyed through these vibrations. In one study, researchers recorded a warning call from an elephant, removed all high-frequency sounds, and played it back to a herd. Although humans could not hear the call, the elephants reacted just as they would to an actual warning call—they became cautious and quickly moved away from the area.

How Elephant Families Communicate and Bond | Secrets of the Elephants

Video by National Geographic